Constructing Naomily
by marsupial1974
Summary: Emily works for the family business. Naomi works for The Stonem Group. When they are all chosen to work together, will the fact that Emily and Naomi had a one night stand after their first meeting ruin whatever professional relationship they might have had? Gen 2 characters will be making appearances, along with some Gen 1 and 3 characters.
1. Chapter 1: Regrets

**Alright! I know that I have to get the next chapter of TBWITB up...and I know that I may have told my new BFF that I was going to post the other new story that I have started writing... But I find that I'm extremely fickle these days...(I chalk it up to hormones because I can!)...and this one has been grabbing all of my attention, so yeah ;)**

 **All the usual disclaimers apply...No, I don't own Skins...No, I don't own the characters except for the ones that are original...Yes, I wear matching socks, because that crazy thing you all do with the missed matched socks drives me up the fucking wall...Yes, all errors are mine...typos too!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Regrets?**

The M4 was wall to wall packed because an articulated lorry had broken down on the tarmac, which caused a couple of cars to asspack each other as they tried to avoid running in to it. Luckily, no one was badly injured, but the whole clusterfuck made the usually two hour drive stretch out.

Emily Fitch sat in traffic, cursing her sister for scheduling this meeting without consulting her about it. She was supposed to be in London an hour ago, and at the rate things were moving, she wouldn't get there until later in the day. She realised that she needed to call Katie and have her reschedule.

With a sigh, she pulled out her mobile, finding Katie's name and waited for her to pick up. She didn't have to wait long, as her sister picked up before the first ring was complete.

" _You'd better be in the lift on the way up_!"

"Good morning to you too, Katie." The hint of sarcasm was lost on Katie, as Emily rolled her eyes and inched forward a couple feet.

" _Don't you fucking "_ good morning _" me, Emily! You are very fucking late!_ "

"Yes, I know that, sister dear, but I'm stuck on the M4, and it doesn't look like I'll be making it anytime soon." Emily explained while trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.

" _What the fuck, Emily? Don't you realise how important this is? These people have the ability to throw loads of business our way!_ " Katie's whining was nothing new to Emily. She had been living with it for the last twenty seven years, so she was well used to it by now. She also knew how to ignore it most of the time.

"I understand that, Katie, but there's not really a lot I can do about that now, is there?" Emily replied, as she looked ahead to see if there was any change in the traffic. "I'm barely past Shefford, Kay."

" _Hold on a tick._ " Emily could hear rustling on the other end, as she thought about the work she had to do later, after this bloody meeting. She was wrenched from her thoughts as Katie came back on the line. " _Alright, Emsy, I've just spoke to Gerald and he said we can push the meeting until later tonight, over dinner_."

"No way, Katie! I've got too much to do today and I can't afford to waste the day in London!"

" _What are you doing that's more important than this?_ "

"Listen, Katie! I don't sit around an office all day, as you well know!" Emily was on the verge of shouting, which would look rather strange to anyone of the other drivers next to her, but she really didn't care. "I've got three sites to go over today and we still have to sort out the zoning license for the new property!"

" _Have Cook or Freddie do it! This is important, Emily. I cannot stress this enough._ " Katie's whining was starting to grate on Emily's nerves.

"I can't do that to the boys!"

"Why not?" She asked indifferently.

"Ugh! Because it's not their job, Katie!" Emily stated through clenched teeth, five heartbeats away from hanging up on her sister and turning back around. "Besides, I was supposed to have dinner with Georgina tonight."

" _Fucks sake, are you still seeing her? I thought you broke it off with her?_ "

Emily squirmed in her seat, because she had been meaning to break it off with the girl but every time she tried, Georgina would start clinging tighter to her. And no matter how much she didn't want to spend a lifetime with her, Emily realised she was too cowardly to end things. Because it was nice to say she had a girlfriend at home, someone who would welcome her with open arms from a hard day of work.

" _Are you even listening to me?_ " Katie barked at her from the other end of line, causing Emily to flinch. " _Listen Emily, The Stonem Group are on the verge of launching the biggest suburban renewal movement this country has ever seen, yeah? That's steady work for years as long as we get our bid in, the right bid, and I can't do that without you, okay?_ "

"Katie," Emily sighed loudly, "I'll be there as soon as I can, we'll do dinner with these guys, but when I get to London, you and I are going to have a very long talk about why you feel we need to do this."

" _Deal! I'll be at a place called the Cat & Mutton, it's supposed to be the new trendy spot to be seen._"

"I don't give a flying fuck about being seen. I'll see you when I get there." Emily hung up and cursed her sister. Why she expected Katie to act any different than any other day was beyond her.

She sat in traffic and wondered how differently their life might've been if her mum was still around, but that always led her to think about the day they lost Jenna Fitch.

 _"Are you sure that's wise, Rob?" Aunt Tracie asked into the phone, as Emily and Katie sat at her kitchen table, eating a late lunch._

 _The twins had been at Aunt Tracie's since the morning before when Rob dropped them off on his way to hospital, with the promise that when he came to get them they would have a new baby brother._

 _But sitting there, watching their aunt as she kept her voice low, they got the feeling that something bad had happened. At five years old, the girls were awfully perceptive._

 _Their father must have said something on the other end of the line, because then Aunt Tracie replied. "Alright, Rob. I'll bring them up as soon as I can." Silence. "Yes, I'll hurry."_

 _Aunt Tracie didn't even get them dressed, just bundled them into the car in their jim-jams. The ride to the hospital was silent, both girls knew that talking would make things worse, so they stayed quiet._

 _When they reached the floor where their mum was, the girls saw their father sitting on the floor in the corridor. Katie was the first to shout out._

 _"Daddy!" Then her and Emily rushed up to him._

 _When Emily got closer, she saw that he was crying and she felt her tummy twist into knots. "Daddy, why are you crying?"_

 _Rob looked at his girls and fresh tears spilled from his eyes. "Girls, Mummy has to go away." He told them, unsure of what else to say. "She's waiting to say goodbye, my loves."_

 _"Where is she going?" and "Why does she have to go?" Came from the girls, as he took their hands in his._

 _"I tell you both later, but let's hurry. You don't want to miss saying goodbye, do ya?"_

 _The girls shook their heads and Rob led them into the hospital room, where Jenna was laying on the bed, eyes closed as if she were sleeping._

 _"Love." Rob called out softly, getting no response. "Jenna, love...the girls are here." He whispered urgently, thinking the worst had happened already._

 _Jenna's lashes fluttered as she drug her eyes open, catching sight of Katie and Emily. Next to her bed there was a bassinet on a trolley. Katie saw it and squealed in excitement._

 _"Look Emsy! It's our brother!" Katie ran around the bed, stopping in front of the bassinet and tried to see inside. "Daddy, I wanna see the baby!"_

 _"Katie, sweeting...come see mummy." Jenna's voice was weak. "Rob, can you bring the girls up here."_

 _Rob nodded, scooping Emily up first and placing her gently on the bed and watched as she cuddled into his wife. Jenna kissed the girl on the top of her head and brushed her cheek against Emily's hair. Katie was soon added to the pile and Rob took a seat at the end of the bed, staying silent._

 _"Girls, I need you to listen to me, alright?" Jenna looked down at her daughters, little tiny replicas of her and she almost sobbed out loud, but she held it together._

 _"What's wrong, Mummy?" Emily asked. "Daddy said you have to go away. Why?"_

 _"Well, my little ducklings," Jenna smiled weakly at them, "something happened when I was trying to bring your baby brother home. Remember when your Nan went to sleep last year and didn't wake up?"_

 _Both girls nodded their heads, really afraid now._

 _"Well, I'm going to have to go to sleep and be with baby James soon."_

 _This confession set off the twins, as they both gripped tightly onto Jenna and refused to stop crying._

 _"But it's not fair, Mummy!" Katie whined, her lisp more pronounced, causing Jenna to smile again._

 _She loved it when Katie's lisp came out, just like she loved it when Emily would smile so big that it lit up her day. Even though they were twins, her babies were two totally different little people._

 _"I know it's not fair, my duckling, but James is all alone in heaven and we don't want him to be alone now, do we?"_

 _Rob listened to whole exchange, sobbing his heart out._

 _"Can't Nan stay with him?" Emily asked from her spot against Jenna's neck. "Papa Fitch is there too, Mummy, so can't they stay with baby James?"_

 _"I'm sure they could, my sweet girl, but he's only a baby and he doesn't know Papa Fitch or Nan." Jenna told her girls._

 _"Then I want to go with you too!" Katie cried._

 _"Absolutely not!" Jenna said firmly, surprising herself with how strong her voice sounded. "You and Emily have things you need to do before you come see me and baby James, my love. You've got school and dances to go to, then there's college and University...that's where I met your daddy, at university." Jenna said as she looked over at her husband, smiling at him as she remembered that moment. "And besides, if we all go with baby James, who'll take care of your daddy?"_

 _A pain ripped through Jenna and she knew she didn't have much time left._

 _"Jenna, love?" Rob was by her side in an instant._

 _"It's time, Rob." Jenna whispered. "Do you remember what we agreed on?"_

 _"I know love, you want to be laid to rest with James, aye."_

 _Jenna smiled up at him, as he leant down to kiss her goodbye. "Take care of the girls, Rob...please be strong for them and for the love of all that is holy, do not be sad, okay?"_

 _"Aye love. Don't be sad...got it. Although, I will have to mourn the loss of my heart, because you're taking that with you."_

 _Jenna Fitch melted all over again, because even as she lay dying, he still had the power to charm her. "I love you, Rob."_

 _Emily watched as her dad and Katie cried. Her mummy looked so tired. "Mummy, you should go to sleep now, your eyes are droopy."_

 _"Aye, they are my, duckling. But there's one thing I need from you before I go to sleep." Jenna told her._

 _Emily perked up at that, wondering what she could do for her mummy. "What?"_

 _Jenna asked Rob to take Katie, as she freed her hands and started to tickle Emily, knowing that that would get her baby girl to smile for her one last time._

 _Peals of laughter rang throughout the room, as Emily tried to pull away from her mum's fingers. "Mummy...," Emily said through deep gulps of breath, "...stop...please...,"_

 _"Not till I get my smile, duckling."_

 _And just like that, Emily forgot that something bad was about to happen, as the smile her mother wished for spread across her face._

 _"There it is." Jenna said softly, returning the smile, as another round of pain gripped her. "There's my favourite part of you, Emsy. Thank you. Give me a kiss my ducklings." Emily reached up and gave her mother a sweet kiss and followed by Katie. "Don't forget, no matter what, remember that I love you both with all my heart."_

 _"Yes, mummy." Both girls replied at the same time, as tears fell from their eyes._

 _Their dad had taken them out of the room, left them with Aunt Tracie and went back in to be with his wife, but when he came out for the last time, he was a different man. He still laughed and played with the girls, just like before, but you could tell something was missing. He would sit by himself more often and stare into nothing._

 _And he worked more than he ever did before. He must have noticed all the time he was spending away from the girls, because a few years later, he started taking them to work with him._

 _He owned a small carpentry business. Nothing big, only a handful of guys working for him, but oddly enough, both Katie and Emily loved it. Emily would follow Rob around and study his every move._

 _One day, he was irritated because the crew were behind schedule, and whilst Katie was happy enough to sit in the office picking out colour chips to finish the walls with, Emily wanted to be right there beside him. Try as he might, he couldn't keep Emily inside the office, so he finally put a hammer in her hands and showed her how to swing it._

 _And that was that._

 _From that day on Emily learned everything she could from her dad and his crew._

Emily didn't know how to explain it, but she always got the feeling that things would have been so much different if her mum was still around. She quickly pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on getting out of the mess on the M4.

No matter what she told Katie, she did not want to make her any madder than she already was.

* * *

"Are you fucking kidding me with this shite!"

Effy Stonem glanced up as a thick folder slide across her desk. She put her pen down and sat back in her chair to stare at her oldest, and most frustrating, friend. "Hello to you too, Naomikins!" She smirked as she looked at the agitated woman before her.

"What the actual fuck, Effy?" Naomi Campbell took a seat in front of the desk and glared at the frail looking woman. "This is not what I signed on for!"

Effy sighed loudly. She always knew she was going to have trouble with getting Naomi on board with this. "I know it's not, Nai, but my hands are tied on this one. Mum has backed me into a corner here and you're the only one I trust with this."

"No...absolutely not! I'm not doing it!" Naomi protested stubbornly, crossing her arms in front of her. "I've had five other offers, Effy. Five! I came here because of you, because you said I could do the work I wanted, but in the two years I've been here I've produced three Geordie Shore rip offs and two cooking shows!"

"Fucks sake, Naomi, I get it! Alright? I really do, but Mum is the head of The Stonem Group and this is the direction she wants this division to go in. At least I was able to get this type of project out of her, okay!" Effy took a moment to collect herself, because getting all worked up has never done much for her. "Naomi, this can be a good thing for us, you and me...," she trailed off as Naomi rolled her eyes, "Gerald is heading up the housing renewal project and this could be some of the best television programming out there if we put the right spin on it, which is where you come in."

Naomi sniffed at Effy's statement, but she was hooked nonetheless. "What do you mean?"

Effy knew she had her now. All it was going to take was a bit of flattery to seal the deal. "You want a project that matters, yes?" She asked, to which Naomi nodded. "This is not going to be one of the those shows where some overly rich snobbish couple come in and we watch them dicker with the estate agent for a lower price, Nai. What Gerald and I are talking about is making a difference in a family's life."

Naomi sat there intrigued and she knew that Effy knew it. "Go on."

"How many people lost their homes last year, Nai? How many estates were shut down and bulldozed to the ground for property developers, leaving thousands homeless?"

Naomi thought about the number in her head. "Nine. I still do-,"

"That's right, nine! We have a chance to say something here and give some of these people a chance to help them get back on their feet, Nai!" Effy explained passionately, causing Naomi to stare open mouthed at her.

"I don't know, Effs...it still seems like another laughable reality show." Naomi said casting her eyes down, giving the whole thing some thought.

"Not if you helm the project, Nai. With you as my producer, you can keep a tight reign on it and make for sure it doesn't get that far, okay?"

Naomi sat for a long time contemplating Effy's words. She knew she could nail this project. But it's not what she went to film school for, not by a long shot.

She had gone to film schools in New York, London, Berlin and Paris. Naomi had won numerous student awards for her documentaries and she had been hoping to go bigger.

But once she returned home from Berlin, another degree fresh in her hand along with her awards, she found out that the documentary crowd was over flowing with hot new directors fresh out of film school.

That's where her best friend since childhood, Effy Stonem, came in.

Effy's mum ran The Stonem Group. A large umbrella corporation that had business dealings in just about everything from software and tech to entertainment and sports. Effy headed up the television production department and when Naomi needed a job after Uni, she offered her friend a job as a producer, with a chance to eventually make that life changing documentary.

It hasn't always been perfect, but Naomi and Effy get on very well, so it was really a win win for Naomi.

Except for this. Reality telly is the one thing that Naomi's always hated about this job and she was promised that the last cheesy show she did was the last one.

"I don't like this, Effy." Naomi stated again petulantly, as she folded her arms in front of her.

Effy sighed and rubbed her temples, so tired of this conversation already, but she knew she had to get Naomi to agree. "I know you don't, Nai, but I had to fight my mum to have you on this project, okay? Please say that you're going to be okay with this?"

"Fine, Effy. Are you happy now?" Naomi scowled, but knew she'd never be able to hold out against Effy for long.

Effy's smile spread slowly across her face. "Yes, very much so." She stood up and came around the desk to give her best friend a hug. "I really didn't wanna do this without you, Naomi."

"Yeah, yeah...sometimes I get the feeling you only keep me around so that you have someone to go clubbing with."

"Speaking of clubbing...,"

"No!"Naomi stood up and started toward the door.

"It's not that, it's just that we have a meeting with one of the candidates for the job."

"Oh." Naomi stopped, looking chastised. "When?"

"Well, it was supposed to be now, but I just spoke with Gerald and he said that one of them was stuck in traffic, so he's scheduled it for later."

Naomi thought about everything she had learnt since stepping into Effy's office. "So how's this going to go down?" She inquired, starting to wrap her head around the logistics of it all, as she sat back down.

"We'll have the usual team. Thomo's on his way back from Barcelona and JJ is with a team up in Glasgow, but they both have agreed to work on this one with you. And me."

"You?" Naomi asked, shocked. Effy had never wanted to go out on assignment before, usually preferring to stay in the office.

Effy raised an eyebrow, challenging Naomi to argue. "Yes, me, Nai. I'm getting bored here lately and I feel a change is in order. But don't worry, I plan on being your assistant on this one."

Naomi looked confused for a moment. "Why? Sophia is my assistant out in the field."

It was true, Sophia Moore had always been the one to help Naomi, but Effy had started noticing the girl's strange behaviour toward Naomi. And Naomi, being Naomi, was oblivious to the attention.

"She's been reassigned to Marcus." Effy told her flatly.

"What? Why?" Naomi thought about the hassle of training a new PA.

"Did you sleep with her?" Effy questioned back.

Naomi's face turned red. "Not exactly...," she trailed off, thinking she was stupid for the hundredth time since her last assignment, when her and Sophia had made out in the toilets of a pub in Cardiff, whilst they were on location.

"What does _not exactly mean_ , Naomi?" Effy glared at her, digging for the answer with her eyes.

Naomi squirmed under the look. "We almost shagged in a dodgy Welsh pub, but then I remembered that whilst I like the girl, fucking her in the loo was bad form. Actually, fucking her at all is just a bad idea."

Effy's eyes widened at Naomi's bluntness. "So you do have some morals in that thick head of yours, well done!"

"Hey!"

"I know you're a bit closed off when it comes to these kind of things, Nai, but that was one of the stupidest things you've ever done!" Effy stated over Naomi's protest. "Didn't you notice that she's more... _attentive_ now?"

"Not really." Naomi shrugged, wracking her brain trying to remember if Sophia had ever acted different.

"Fucks sake, Nai! You are one of the densest people I've ever known!"

" _Hey_!" Naomi tried again to defend her character.

"It's true, Naomi and you know it! Sophia has been reassigned permanently and I will be your new PA, is that understood?"

"But why?" Naomi was whining now, and she hated that.

"Because she won't be able to perform her job if she's too busy trying to get you to notice her again," Effy said with a raised eyebrow, "and we both know that if you didn't shag her in those dodgy pub toilets, you're not going to shag her at all, don't we?"

Naomi lowered her head, knowing that Effy was right, as usual. "Yes...I was drunk and she was there, that's all it was."

"I figured as much, Nai, so it's for the best that we just don't put you in that position again, okay?"

Naomi nodded and swallowed thickly. "Thanks, Effy."

"Don't mention it, yeah? You're my friend and I'm just looking out for you. The last thing you need is a sexual harassment suit brought against you, so...,"

"So when does this thing start?" Naomi asked, trying to change the subject. Her love life, or lack thereof, was not something she wanted to dissect and examine. It was pathetic enough as it was without adding her numerous mistakes into the mix.

Effy smirked, knowing what her friend was doing, but didn't want to draw it out. "Well, the thing is, we're meeting with the owners of Fitch Construction. This is my pick for the project." She said opening up her file on the company, while Naomi did the same. "As you can see, they're a reputable company, who also do what they can to help families in need. This is who we want."

Naomi scanned the fact sheet in front of her, couldn't help but be impressed with what she saw and knew that Effy was right. As usual. "Alright...if this is your pick, why are we meeting with anyone else?"

"Mum." Effy stated simply. "She wants to add footage of the selection process to the show, so Gavin and Stacy will be on hand to film the meeting today in lieu of JJ and Thomo."

As Naomi read the bios on the Fitches, she was notably impressed with the background on Katie and Emily Fitch.

Twin sisters, raised by their widowed father, both of them applied to volunteer during college and kept at whilst at uni. Habitat for Humanity, Build Abroad, Projects Abroad, African Impact, IVHQ and Volunteers for Peace, sending them to such places as Kenya, Brazil, Peru, Italy and Romania, just to name a few.

"Twins, hey?" Naomi commented as she glanced up at Effy.

Effy merely rolled her eyes. If there was one thing about her best mate that she could change, it was her reluctance to settle down and make a commitment.

"How about we try to stay professional on this one? And when I say _we_ , I mean _you_!" Effy stated in a matter of fact manner, glaring playfully at her friend. Naomi laughed aloud, holding her hands up in surrender, causing Effy to laugh as well, as she stood up and grabbed her jacket. "C'mon, Nai...we'd better get to the pub. If we don't leave now, we'll be late."

"Right behind ya, Eff." Naomi followed her out of the office and they made they're way to Effy's car. ' _Twins. Hmm...this could be interesting._ ' She though to herself as she sat quietly beside Effy as they crossed town during the late lunch rush.

* * *

Emily's head felt twenty sizes too big. She knew this wasn't normal, but she couldn't for the life her remember why.

Her eyes were shut tight against the sunlight the she felt coming through the window, but something was wrong, because it was hitting the wrong side of her face.

Emily took a chance and cracked her right eye open just enough to catch sight of her bedroom window in the wrong place. When she realised this fact, she freaked out and both eyes opened wide causing the pain in her head to intensify.

At the squeal of pain she let out as she slammed her eyes shut, Georgina shuffled next to her and Emily cursed herself for waking the girl, because now she'll want to cuddle and get ever more clingy and she didn't know if she'd be able to deal with that this morning.

"Morning." An unfamiliar voice said sleepily from under the sheet.

Emily froze, as last night slammed into her mind like a freight train boring down the tracks at high speed.

Blonde hair, blue eyes and pale creamy skin blinded Emily, as the sheet was thrown off the body next to her, revealing the tall gorgeous girl she met yesterday afternoon and she quickly looked down at herself, noticing that she was naked.

"Um...," Emily was drawing a total blank as the realisation of what she had done hit her.

"Naomi?" The blonde supplied with a heart stopping smirk, as she raised herself up on her elbows, looking Emily over with dark eyes.

"Yeah, um...right...," Emily was starting to panic now, " _what_ happened last night?"

Emily didn't miss the look of hurt in Naomi's eyes at the question, but she ducked her head quickly to hide it.

"You don't remember?"

The question was so quiet, Emily wondered if it was spoken at all, until Naomi's head lifted back up and those icy blue-grey eyes locked on hers, making her heart beat faster.

"I'm sorry...," Emily trailed off, because she didn't know what to say. It's not like this was a new thing, it was just something she hadn't done in fucking years!

She was about to say something else when her mobile went off, the ringtone indicating that it was Georgina ringing her. "Fuck!" She exclaimed, looking for it. She jumped up and started searching for her clothes and her mobile.

Emily found her jeans and dug her iPhone out of the back pocket, quickly glancing at it, confirming that it was her girlfriend. She turned back to Naomi, using her jeans to cover herself because she couldn't find her Fitch Construction t-shirt. "I'm sorry...Naomi," she blushed as she looked at the blonde, images of last night starting to filter through her brain, "I've got to take this."

"Sure, no problem...," Naomi tried to sound nonchalant, shrugging as she stood up and grabbed a robe throwing over her body, blocking Emily's view of what looked like the silkiest skin she'd ever seen. "The rest of your things are up there."

Emily's gaze followed the long arm as it pointed to a spot above the dresser, where she saw her knickers, bra and white vest flung casually over the mirror. She smiled shyly at the blonde as she opened the bedroom door.

"I hope you won't regret what happened," Naomi said before leaving the room, "once you remember it all, that is, because I don't." Emily didn't reply, because her mobile was kicking off again, only smiled at Naomi as she left Emily standing alone in the room.

Naomi was about to shut the door completely when she heard Emily answer her mobile.

" _Hey, baby...ya, I know...I'm sorry. Katie wanted some sister time and you know how she gets about that...,_ "

Naomi felt her heart drop as she overheard Emily's end of the conversation. ' _Fuck! She's got a girlfriend? Why didn't Emily tell me that yesterday!_ ' She made her way to the kitchen to make some coffee. She needed the caffeine to help her get over the shaking that had started when she walked down the hallway.

"So much for professionalism!" She muttered to herself as she nursed that first beloved cup of steaming hot liquid. She heard the door of her room open and shut, then the sound of stockinged feet find their way into the kitchen. Naomi looked up to find a clothed, blushing Emily standing in front of her.

"Um...Naomi...," Emily's voice was huskier than last night, causing shivers to ripple across Naomi's skin at the sound of it.

"You don't have to say anything." Naomi replied sadly. "I get it...you've got a girlfriend and you don't do this kinda thing, so...lets just chalk it up as a lapse in judgement and move on, yeah? No hard feelings, alright? This won't be held against Fitch Contractors at all...actually, if you would be so kind as to keep this to yourself, that'd be great."

The wind was sucked right out of Emily's sails as Naomi basically gave her a reprieve. She was so ready to come out here and do whatever was needed to make sure her and Katie still had a shot at this job.

"I'm really _not_ like this, I'm so-,"

"Save it, Emily...please?" Naomi cut her off quickly, standing up from her chair to stand face to face with her. "It is what it is, okay? We can't go back and change anything, so we'll draw a line under it and move on."

Emily's mobile went off again and she groaned at the interruption. "For fucks sake!" She growled out loud as she checked the caller ID, as if she didn't know already. "I've got to go."

Naomi shrugged again. "Hopefully I'll see you soon. Effy should be calling you guys to let you know if you've got the job, so...," Naomi was feeling odd, something strange was going on with her and she didn't understand it.

Emily merely nodded, feeling dismissed and she turned toward the front door.

Naomi watched the girl go, a sadness filling her, but just as Emily opened the door, she felt the need to clarify something.

"Emily?"

She stopped and turned slightly back to Naomi. "Yeah?"

Naomi heard the nervousness in her voice, and thought that maybe, just maybe, Emily was feeling as strange as her right now. "For what it's worth, I really don't regret it. Not at all." She told her with a shy smile, catching her bottom lip in between her teeth.

Emily didn't respond with words. Could only nod her head. She could feel the blush work its way up her face, as she walked out the door shutting it firmly behind her.

Leaving the most gorgeous woman she had ever met in her life on the other side, dialing Katie to find out exactly what the fuck happened last night.

* * *

 **Okay...nervously waiting to hear what you think...**

 **I will apologize right off the bat for not being English and for not knowing the laws and requirements for construction and buying and selling property over there...all I can say is that I will do my best to be as realistic as possible...**

 **The idea for this came when I was being forced to endure the Property Brothers...(I'm the only one in my family who hates reality TV...can someone save me?), I then I started picturing Emily Fitch in a white tank top, jeans, work boots, sweating up a storm as she swung a hammer! Let that image run through your minds for a few moments and see if you can think properly after that!**

 **So...let me know...do I keep going? Or no?**

 **Love all you guys bunches xoxoxoxoxoxoxo**

 **Marsupial**


	2. Chap 2:Memories and Falling into Reality

**A/N: Hello guys :)I am back again... I tried to update this other day with TBWITB, but I didn't quite happen...**

 **So let's get on with it, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer : I think we all know the drill by now, don't we? **

* * *

**Chapter 2: Memories and Falling into Reality**

Emily sat quietly at her breakfast table, sipping coffee and staring out her window.

This had been a running theme for the last month.

Ever since London.

One night in London had disrupted everything she thought she knew, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how to get it back to the way it was before. She finished her coffee and stood to grab a quick shower, determined to put London out of her mind.

That determination didn't last long however, because that night flashed into her mind once she stepped into the steamy shower, feeling the water caress her body much like Naomi did that night.

Needless to say, her recollection of what happened that night, with the small exception of where her Fitch Construction t-shirt ended up, came back full force once she had a quick word with Katie the next day.

 _"Fucking finally!"_

 _That's how Emily was greeted when she weaved her way through the crowd of people in the bar, looking for her sister._

 _"Nice, Katie." Emily snapped back at her, glancing quickly around the table, taking notice of the guy and two other women sitting with Katie. "I told you I was stuck in traffic, yeah?"_

 _"Well, you're here now, and it's a pleasure to meet you," the dark haired woman reached out her hand to shake, "I'm Elisabeth Stonem, but please, call me Effy."_

 _Emily shook her hand and smiled. "Emily Fitch." She said simply, before moving on to the guy, Gerald Hannigan, and finally turning to the gorgeous blonde next to her._

 _"Naomi Campbell."_

 _Emily held out her hand, eager to introduce herself, but everyone seemed to be staring at her. It wasn't until Naomi slipped her hand into Emily's that whatever they were waiting for passed by._

 _"You all owe me twenty quid!" Katie hollered out, as everyone except Emily started digging through purses and pockets, Gerald, Effy and Naomi slapping twenty pounds each on the table._

 _"Why do I get the feeling that I've missed something and am, in fact, the butt of a joke?" Emily asked no one in particular._

 _Katie started laughing followed by everyone else._

 _It was Naomi that leant over to clue in the younger twin. "My name." Emily looked confused, so Naomi decided to clue her in. "Katie bet us all that you wouldn't laugh at my name."_

 _"Why would I laugh?"_

 _"For fucks sake, Emsy! For a lezza, you're pretty fucking clueless when it comes to women!"_

 _"I don't get it." Emily insisted, not sure what they were going on about, until Effy leant across the table and holding out her mobile._

 _Emily took it and looked at what the brunette had pulled up. At first she still didn't see what the big deal was until she looked closer. A picture of somewhat nice looking model attached to an article about fashion. The headline caught her attention on the second read through._

 _"Naomi Campbell shines in Milan"_

 _"Oh, I get it." Emily grinned, not the least bit embarrassed. "You never should have fallen for a sucker bet like that! I'm crap with fashion, so Katie would've known that, yeah?"_

 _"But it's Naomi Campbell!" Gerald exclaimed. "Anger issues, bad attitude! How can you not know who she is?"_

 _"Sorry, but unless she's modelled for the Stanley Tool Calendar, I don't know who's who." Emily stated with a shrug._

 _"See guys? I told you." Katie said with a smile. "Can we order dinner now?"_

 _The meeting started and Effy and Gerald laid out the plans for the programme. The more they talked, the more excited Emily became. This was something she could stand behind. The Stonem Group had purchased nine rundown older houses, with scouts out looking for more. The company would fix them up, one by one, with the help of the family that was to move in, therefore earning the right to live there. For the families, the hours spent working along with the construction crew would count as a down payment and then the Stonem Group would then lease to own to each family. The way Emily saw it, it was a way to help displaced families get back on their feet. Once Katie and Emily were done asking questions about the project, Effy and Naomi had questions of their own._

 _They started off with dinner, which then turned into drinks, until Effy suggested a club that she knew of on the other side of town. Gerald brought rounds of shots to their table and the night got messier from there._

 _Emily's mobile kept ringing, and after the first couple of calls she shut it off, because Georgina kept texting her, and she was having too much fun to deal with a clingy girlfriend._

 _"Someone bothering you?" Naomi asked as she slid into the booth next to her._

 _For a split second, Emily was going to tell her the truth, she really was, but something stopped her. "The guys. They get a bit anxious when they don't see me for a whole day." She lied easily, not wanting to think about Georgina when she was looking into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. They almost glowed under the flashing lights and Emily found herself mesmerised by them._

 _"Right." Naomi grinned at her. "Wanna dance?"_

 _"Absolutely!" Emily stood quickly, downing her last shot and then grabbed Naomi's hand, leading her to the dance floor._

 _Emily took the lead and started moving to the music, as Naomi watched closely. Song after song, the two girls danced closer and closer, most of the time with Emily's back to Naomi's front._

 _When Emily felt Naomi's hands grip her hips, she felt a buzzing start in her stomach. It wasn't unusual, she just hadn't felt anything like it in a long time. Georgina never made her feel this way._

 _"Has anyone every told you how fucking beautiful you are?" Naomi had spoken into her ear, causing shivers to run up and down Emily's spine as she felt Naomi's breath on her skin._

 _She couldn't answer with words, so she shook her head no._

 _"I'm not gonna lie, it could be the alcohol talking, but I'm thinking of some very, very naughty things I'd like to do to you right now."_

 _Emily's heart stopped right then, because it suddenly felt like the Niagara Falls was running between her thighs. She had no thoughts of her girlfriend when she took Naomi's hand and led her to the loo._

"Emily! Hurry up, honey! I've gotta use the loo!"

The sound of Georgina's voice broke Emily out of the very hot memory of her night in London, causing her to feel embarrassed when she realised where her fingers were and how close she was to an orgasm.

"Um...give me one tick!" She called out, her husky voice huskier than normal. Emily gave herself a couple seconds to cool off, before turning the shower off and grabbing the towel hanging on the rack.

As she dried herself, she continued thinking about Naomi. Emily remembered the frantic kisses in the loo, and Naomi pushing her against the door of the cubicle, attaching her lips to any visible skin she could find, and when that wasn't enough, she remembered Naomi relieving her of her Fitch Construction shirt.

"That's where it went!" Emily said out loud, realising that the shirt must have stayed behind at the club when Naomi convinced her that heading to her flat would be much better.

She finished in the bathroom, wrapping the towel around herself and opened the door to find Georgina standing there.

"Are you talking to yourself again, hun?" Georgina asked as she spilt past Emily into the small room.

Emily felt herself blush, as that tiny guilty feeling washed over her again. "Um...yeah."

"I'm making breakfast, sweetie. And then I thought I'd head over to my place and grab some more of my stuff today." Georgina said, as Emily was shutting the bathroom door, causing her to pause and stare back at the girl in confusion.

"What?"

"You know, more of my clothes, some of my books...just some little things." Georgina stated as if it was a casual thing.

But Emily's head was reeling from the news. It sounded like Georgina was moving in. But she couldn't remember any conversation that ended up with her moving in.

"Can we talk about that later?" Emily asked nervously. "It just seems like that should be something we discuss together, and I've got to get to the Brislington site."

"But I'm making pancakes!" Georgina whined.

 _'I fucking hate it when she does that!_ ' Emily thought to herself bitterly, before answering her. "I can't do it, Georgie, I've gotta go...I'm running behind as it is!" She replied as she hurried into her room, closing the door behind her.

She grabbed a pair of jeans, a white vest top and a flannel shirt, along with her undergarments and quickly got dressed. She wanted to get out of the house before Georgina could continue her campaign to move in with her.

The thought of it made Emily cringe. _'Fuck!_ ' She knew she should've ended things with her a long time ago, but she just didn't know how to. Now it was going to explode in her face!

She shoved that thought to the back of her mind as she grabbed a pair of socks and opened her bedroom door, on the hunt for her steel-toed work boots. Emily was on all fours, crawling along the front of her sofa, searching when she was interrupted.

"Dear, what are you doing down there?"

Emily stopped feeling under the sofa for a second and glared up at Georgina. "I hate it when you call me that." She snapped out. "Finally!" She rejoiced as she found one of her boots. "Have you seen my other boot?"

Georgina gave her a withering look. "Why would I know where it's at? You came in at half past two, whilst I was sleeping, drunk as well!"

It was a well known fact that Georgina hated drinking and hated when Emily drank. Georgina especially hated when Emily went out with Cook and Freddie after work, which she had been doing a lot of since London happened.

Since Naomi happened.

An apology was on the tip of Emily's tongue, but she held it in. "How the fuck was I supposed to know that you were here last night? It's not like you called to tell me!"

"Like you would have answered?" The girl snapped out. "What's been going on with you, sweetheart? Something seems off."

Emily stood up quickly, after spying her other boot across the room. She picked it up and sat down to finish getting ready to go. "Nothing, Georgie. I'm fine, yeah? I've just got a lot on, with work and everything." She said, standing up. "Look, I've really gotta go, can we talk about this later, please?"

Georgina didn't look too happy with the request, but Emily couldn't find it in her to care all that much, as she grabbed her work jacket and left.

She climbed into the cab of her Nissan, and fired it up. Emily really did have to be at one of the sites this morning, but she also couldn't seem to look Georgina in the eye knowing that she cheated on her, and that wasn't sitting too well with her.

Something else that wasn't sitting too well with Emily, was the fact that she really, really wanted to see Naomi again.

* * *

Naomi laid in bed again for the thirtieth morning in a row, smelling the pillow that Emily slept on and the other item that had taken up residence in her room since that night, which oddly enough still smelt like the younger twin.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?" She muttered to herself, feeling a sadness wash over her again, just like every other morning.

Naomi's days had been filled with meeting after meeting, one construction company or other, but none of them seemed to be what Effy was looking for. They'd had to keep interviewing companies, but today was the last one, thank god!

She knew she was running late, choosing to cuddle up with the red t-shirt that she had liberated from Emily that night in the club toilets.

The Fitch Construction motto was printed boldly a crossed the back in big clock letters, "Don't Just Fix It, Fitch It!", and on the front in the upper left of the chest, written in inch high script, it said Emily Fitch, crew manager. Naomi ran her fingers across the words, remembering when she took the shirt off Emily with a smile.

She couldn't understand why this one girl was affecting her so much. Naomi never focused on just one girl before! It was a bit ridiculous, really and she vowed to put it in the past, because Emily had a girlfriend and had quickly put the best night of Naomi's life in her past.

But she found that she couldn't get rid of the memories of that night, soft brown eyes and red hair. Not a natural red, but a red that seemed to be alive when the light hit it. Naomi had found herself entranced by the different shades of red that Emily sported.

Naomi stretched out after tucking the shirt back under her pillow, and debated on whether or not to get up and shower, when her mobile started ringing.

She rolled her eyes, knowing who it was, as she reached for it. "Hello."

"You'd better be walking out the front door right now, Naomi!"

Effy's voice, which usually sounded calm and disinterested, sounded somewhat panicky.

"Effs, what's wrong?" Naomi asked, sitting up in bed.

"The last company pulled out, so no meeting with them today but...,"

Naomi knew she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. "But what, Effy?"

"We need to have a meeting with my mum. She wants to go with the guys from Ipswich!" Effy said in a rush. "I think the owner had dinner with Anthea last night, so now she wants them on this project."

"But I thought you and I had final say?" Naomi whined, as she got out of bed altogether and started searching for clothes. "We said we wanted the Fitches!"

Naomi could try to lie to herself all she wanted, but deep down she knew the only thing keeping her from losing it was the knowledge that she'd be working very closely with Emily Fitch soon. Now that was in jeopardy of being ripped away from her.

"I'm aware of that Naomi! So now we have to go and make Anthea realise why hiring those bastards would be a mistake."

"And how are we supposed to do that?"

"I wouldn't worry about that, Nai...shower, dressed and on your way here in 20 minutes!" With that demand, Effy hung up, leaving Naomi feeling disoriented and out of sorts.

She was done and out the door in 15 minutes and on her way to the office of Anthea Stonem, hoping like hell Effy had a plan.

* * *

"Twelve of their projects have been condemned on inspection, most of their projects have been fined for not having proper permits and most of their homes have been overpriced." Effy set the thick folder in front of her mother.

Anthea Stonem was an imposing woman. Not one to give in to flights of fancy, she ran her business with an iron fist. She had to in order to keep control over everything.

When she first started the business with her late husband, Jim, they had started out small. Running a software company that expanding into a television production company, then into a wider range of businesses. Jim and Anthea would acquire a business on the verge of financial collapse and turn it around into a money making machine.

When Jim passed away ten years ago, Anthea had to fight to keep the vultures away from what they thought was a dead horse without a man in charge.

Investors didn't realise that Anthea had been the driving force behind Stonem Group the whole time, but she showed them all.

Over the years, she had more or less turned over the entertainment division to her children, Tony, who handled software development and Effy, who wanted the television side. And they've excelled at what they did.

Anthea made sure of it.

"So what are you telling me?" Anthea asked, narrowing her gaze as she scanned the file.

"I'm telling you that Foster is not who we want for this project, Mother." Effy stated in her usual manner, calm and detached, although to be honest, she was freaking out on the inside. "Hiring this company will undermine everything we want to accomplish with this project."

Anthea eyed her daughter, before turning to Naomi. "What about you?"

Naomi hated to be pinned under the soul searching gaze of any of the Stonems. She felt put on the spot, and she squirmed a little in her seat, but cleared her throat and answered. "Effy's right, Anthea. The press alone would tear the show apart once they caught wind of this." She gestured to the file, shrugging.

"We've interviewed fourteen companies in the last month." Anthea stated, as if they didn't know, before going silent.

"We've interviewed them, because you wanted that as part of the show." Effy reminded her. "I've had my mind made up before we even did the first interview."

Anthea smirked at her daughter, catching the change in her tone. "And who do you think we should go with? Wait, let me guess...you want the company with all the wonderful eye candy, don't you...Miles and Sons Contracting, yeah?" She laughed out loud, thinking how her daughter was too predictable.

Effy smirked back at her mum, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Actually, Naomi and I have decided on Fitch Construction."

Anthea stopped laughing. "What? You can't be serious, Effy!"

"Why not?" Effy and Naomi asked at the same time.

"Surely you're not objecting because it's run by two females, are you Anthea?" Naomi asked, a bit shocked at the double standard coming from the woman who built up an empire.

Anthea looked outraged at the accusation. "Watch yourself, Naomi!" She warned her. "How about the fact that they're _young_ women! I don't think they have the experience we're looking for! Foster has been in business for almost twenty years."

"And Foster is crooked! His work is shoddy and from what I heard, he treats his crew like shite!" Effy argued.

"The Fitches have years of experience, look at their CV...," Naomi said as she dug through the file, pulling out the long résumé, "aid work in five countries, building schools, houses and a couple of hospitals. All before they were twenty."

"Their dad, Robert Fitch has been in business for almost thirty years," Effy continued for Naomi, "he started out small, something that you can appreciate, and he and his daughters have built it up to what it is today."

Anthea read the CV and the company info and was instantly impressed. Then she compared it to Foster's company info. The Fitch portfolio was indeed longer than Foster's, and she knew that the girls were right.

"Alright. You've proven your point." Anthea stated, closing the folders in front of her. "The Fitches win. Go ahead and make the call."

Effy felt her heart jumping in excitement. It wasn't very often that Anthea admitted she was wrong, so every time she did felt like a victory.

Naomi's heart was jumping for a totally different reason. It started beating to a rhythm that was new.

Emily Fitch. Over and over again.

"Thank you, Mum." Effy told her sincerely. "You won't regret this."

"I'd better not, Elisabeth." Anthea warned her, as Naomi and Effy left the room quickly.

It was decided that they would head over to Bristol and inform them in person. Effy had suggested it, and whilst Naomi was overjoyed to see the petite girl again, she feigned nonchalance.

"Sure, we've got nothing on the rest of the day." Naomi replied.

And so two hours later, after a quick text sent to Katie, Naomi and Effy found themselves driving along the M4, packed for the weekend, both of them having decided that they'd stay until Sunday.

Naomi promised herself that she would have no expectations concerning Emily, because of the mysterious girlfriend, but telling her heart that was a lost cause.

* * *

" _Motherfucking cunting bastard!_ "

Cook and Freddie heard the swearing all the way across the job site and took off running toward it.

"Emilio?" Cook asked in a panic when he didn't see Emily up on the roof of the three story American Colonial style house they were working on. "Where the fook are ya?"

"I'm going up, Cook." Freddie stated as he was halfway up the ladder.

He cleared the last rung and hauled himself precariously onto the roof.

"Do you see 'er?" Cook asked from the ground.

Freddie scanned this side of the sloped roofing. "Not yet, I'm going over to the other side." He told Cook, as he gently picked his way up and over to the back side of the roof. He saw her on her knees, right at the edge of the roof, bleeding from her left hand. "Fucking Christ, Emsy! What happened?" He asked rushing over to her.

Emily looked up at her friend, smiling sheepishly through the pain. "I got distracted and I think I broke some bones."

"Did you smash it with your framing hammer, for fucks sake?"

"As a matter of fact...," Emily couldn't even finish because Freddie had called for Cook to bring the ladder around. "Freds, I'll be alright."

"Yeah, I know, but we're gonna get you down now." Freddie told her as Cook slapped the ladder against the side of the house.

A minute later, his head peaked over the edge. "What the fook happened?" Cook asked, with an unusual urgency in his voice.

"It's alright, Cook," Emily told him as she stood up with Freddie's help, "just a little flesh wound."

"Flesh wound, my arse!" Cook replied dropping down a few rungs, watching as she lifted her legs over and started to climb down one handed. "I'll drive ya to hospital."

"I'm not going!" Emily protested as she gingerly made her way down.

"Yes you are!" Freddie stated from above her.

Cook had grabbed the handkerchief from his back pocket and started cleaning her hand as soon as she touched the ground. "Christ, girl! You tore the skin right to the bone!"

Freddie stepped off the ladder and ran to his truck.

"Cook, please? We've got to finish this roof today and I can't do that if I'm sitting in the hospital."

"Emily, you, as our crew manager should know better! If it was anyone of us, you'd be hot on our arses to get to hospital!" Cook stated angrily. "It's the right thing to do, innit?"

Emily knew she had been called out by her best friend and hung her head. "Fine. Let's go."

Cook started leading her to where Freddie was waiting with his truck, when he saw Katie's car driving up the street.

"What the fuck happened?" Katie got out of the drivers seat after stopping and saw Emily's hand.

"I had an accident." Emily stated simply. "Don't worry, the guys are taking me to the hospit-,"

"Oh my god, are you alright?" The voice coming from the other side of the car, stopped Emily's train of thought.

She finally noticed Effy and Naomi and felt heat pool in her stomach as she stared into Naomi's blue eyes, the same blue eyes that she had been dreaming about for a month.

"Katie?" Effy smirked at her, wondering want was going on. "Can anyone clue me in here?"

"She needs to get that hand looked at." Freddie said to the tall brunette.

"We'll take her." Katie said ushering her into the back seat of her car, Effy and Naomi following. "Freds. Cook, I need you guys to finish up here, okay? Dad's bringing the owners in tomorrow to see the progress."

"Right, but let us know what happens, yeah?" Cook agreed. "C'mon, Freds."

Katie nodded and climbed into the car.

"Here, let me help with that?" Naomi had said when she saw Emily struggling with the cloth around her hand.

"Thank you."

"So what the fuck happened up there, Emily?" Katie asked as she navigated through the city streets.

Emily didn't know how to explain, because really, how did you talk about a girl distracting you when that very same girl was sitting close enough to touch?

"I wasn't paying attention. It just happened." Emily muttered, feeling tingles in her fingers that had nothing to do with the pain, as Naomi tried to mop up the blood.

When the cloth became to drench with Emily's blood, Naomi did the only thing she could think to do and reached into her bag, pulling out a little pen knife and started cutting off a strip of her t-shirt. Once she had enough, Naomi gently wrapped that around Emily's hand.

"That should last until we get you to the hospital." Naomi said quietly, unaware that she exposed a small strip of skin and that now Emily was now fixated on what she saw.

Effy saw it though, as she gazed into the rearview mirror and she couldn't help the smirk that formed.

' _This should be interesting_.' She thought to herself, as Katie drove to the hospital.

* * *

"C'mon! Give me my drink!"

"No! You're not supposed to be drinking, Ems!" Naomi laughed as she heard herself slurring her words. "You're on heavy pain meds."

Emily huffed and tried crossing her arms in front of herself, until a burst of pain shot up her arm. "Fucking hell! Please can I have my drink?" She whined.

"Fine, here you go! But when you're sicker than a dog tomorrow, don't come crying to us!" Katie shouted over the music, handing Emily her pint.

The trip to the A&E lasted about an hour, where Emily found out that she didn't break anything, merely fractured a couple of bones and ripped the skin of her hand open. After an anaesthetic, more than a few stitches and a wrapped up splint, the doctor gave her some pain pills and a script for more.

Effy decided to treat them all to dinner, where she and Naomi delivered the news, so Katie decided that they needed to celebrate properly.

That was how Emily found herself sitting next to the captivating blonde, totally forgetting that she was supposed to be having a talk with her annoying girlfriend.

She couldn't help herself, not really. It was just so easy to be with Naomi because she was smart and funny, she didn't think it was strange that Emily swung a hammer for a living or that she double majored at uni and held a degree in business management and was also a licensed architect and a contractor.

The celebration turned into a rave when Cook and Freddie and some of the other guys from the crew turned up and started buying drinks.

Emily had to bite her tongue when Cook cornered her by the bar and told her that he was gonna have a go at Naomi, forgetting that the only ones who knew about her and the blonde were her, Naomi and Katie.

So she watched nervously, as Cook started to weave his way through the crowd, homing in on where Emily left Naomi dancing. Emily couldn't hide the smile that she knew she was sporting when she saw Naomi shake off his advances, knowing that she really had no right to feel jealous, but she did.

And it hit over and over again. Those little pangs of jealousy. Every time someone new came along to dance with Naomi, they would flare up, until she finally couldn't stand it anymore and pushed her way through the crowd.

Naomi saw her and smiled. "What's up, Fitch?" She shouted over the music, but Emily didn't say anything, choosing to smile instead. "Wanna dance?"

The redhead took the opportunity and started moving to the music, inching closer and closer to the blonde, until they were both lost in their own little world.

* * *

Effy watched her best mate gravitate toward the younger twin all night long, and she didn't know whether to be excited by the prospect of them hooking up or upset that Naomi was being Naomi, and taking advantage of a drugged up straight girl.

If Naomi pulled her usual shit, their whole project could blow up in their faces, and there'd be no way Effy could save her from losing her job.

"Twenty quid says they don't last the whole night without finding a nice little spot to get cosy." Freddie said as he and Katie had made their way back to the table where Effy was resting, and he couldn't help but smile as he saw his best friend start dancing with the blonde.

Effy smirked at him. "I'm not taking that bet, because if I know Naomi," she stated as she looked back over to where the two of were grinding against each other, whilst Naomi was nibbling on Emily's neck, "she's already thought about it."

Katie and Freddie giggled and Effy's smile got bigger. She was about to say something else, when Cook and another one of Emily's crew, Sid, came rushing over.

"Katie!" Cook called out, slightly out of breath.

"What?" Katie looked at him and Sid, noticing that he looked guilty. "What the fuck have you done now, Sid?"

Sid flinched as Katie shouted at him. He hated when she did that, but he couldn't help it.

"Well, I may have...um...I ran into...I-I sort of tol-," Sid stammered, unable to form a complete sentence.

"For fooks sake, man! Yer embarrassing yerself!" Cook shook his head in disgust, before turning back to Katie. "Georgie's here! And looking for Emily, so you might wanna do summat wiv those two!" He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at Emily and Naomi, who now had started snogging on the dance floor.

"Fuck me! Naomi's finally gonna get the shit beat outta her by an angry boyfriend!" Effy replied loudly, causing Katie, Freddie and Cook to stare at her in disbelief. "What? It's almost happened before! Naomi has a habit of picking up straight girls with boyfriends or husbands...,"

She trailed off as the three of them started laughing at her.

"If you fuckers are done, we need to break those two up!" Effy shouted at them over the music, causing Katie to turn toward her sister.

"Fuck! It's too late." Katie told her, as they all turned to watch was about to happen.

* * *

" _EMILY_!"

The voice was shrill but it carried well over the music, acting better than a bucket of ice cold water against Emily's skin, causing her to stiffen and pull away from Naomi.

She didn't want to turn around, because then she would see that look in Georgina's eyes. That look that always told Emily what a fuck up she was, and then that would be followed by crying and pleading, and she _really_ didn't wanna deal that right now. Not when she had been two breaths away from following Naomi back to her hotel room, where they would have gone for round two.

Emily could hear Georgie yelling from behind her and instead of turning around, she looked up, feeling the world fall away from her as Naomi's normally warm laughing eyes were now ice cold orbs shooting deadly looks at Emily and Georgina, no doubt.

"Looks like you've already got plans for the night, _Ems_!"

Naomi spat out, and whilst Emily tried to say something, anything at all, she found that she couldn't because what was there to say? I'm sorry that I have a girlfriend? Somehow Emily didn't think that would work, as she watched Naomi turn and leave her standing there.

Emily watched her dream girl walk away, but when she was out of sight, the sound of Georgie crying broke through her Naomi haze.

"Fuck me!" Emily mumbled under her breath, knowing that Georgina would wiggle her way deeper into Emily's life because of this. And wishing she had the metaphorical balls to just woman up and break up with the girl.

One thing she knew for sure was, this was gonna be a long night.

* * *

 **Alright, another one down...Alright guys, I don't usually do this, but I am begging for reviews on this one...only because I'd love to know what you all think of it, your views on where you think this could go, and just in general if it's good or bad... I just would like to know if this one is worth continuing...so yeah...**

 **Love you guys bunches,**

 **Soupy**


	3. Chapter 3: Bruised Hearts

**A/N:** **Hello you wonderful peoples! First off, let me apologise for the absence. I honestly didn't realize it had been sooooo long since I have updated any of my stories, and for that I am truly sorry :(**

 **So here I am to make it up to you all now, with this!**

 **First of all a major, huge, titanic shout out to mswitsend, who's encouragement and words of wisdom are so appreciated... I don't think she really grasps how much her friendship means... so if for some reason you haven't read Stonem House, you should go do that now! **

**Also, a shout out to mynameislizzie, who's naomily goodness I'm a bit behind on, but I promise, my friend, I will get caught up ;D If you haven't read Lizzie's stuff, then shame on you all!**

 **Any and all typos/grammatical errors are mine:)**

 **Disclaimer: I broke my glasses the other day and now I'm rocking the geeky/nerd look with the tape on the bridge of my glasses. My mommy made fun of me the other day about it...hmm... Oh, and I don't own Skins. Although the OC's are all mine...they came out of my head and I don't know whether to be proud of that or really, _really_ fucking scared...**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Bruised Hearts**

Katie Fitch was a damn fine interior designer. On top of being a damn fine architect as well. Just because she didn't swing a hammer like Emily did, didn't make her any less important. She graduated with honours along with Emily from Uni.

In the month since she found out that her, Emily and their company won the contract for the Stonem Group, Katie had been working with Effy and Naomi on the designs for each house whilst Emily and their crew finished the few projects that they already had going on.

Katie was about to head out the door, when Rob Fitch stepped out of the office and caught her.

"Morning, love." Rob greeted her, giving her a hug and a kiss. "On your way to London?"

"Yeah. Emily should been done with the Brislington site today and then we'll hand everything over to you. Are you okay with that?" Katie asked him with a smile.

Rob smiled at her brightly, feeling a sense of pride in his daughters. "I'm sure the old boys and I will be fine." He chuckled, remembering how the guys reacted all those years ago when he first started bringing the girls with him to work. "We're all so proud of both you girls." He said giving her another hug.

"Thanks, Dad." Katie replied sheepishly, not one to relish in overly emotional displays. "Remember, once the filming starts, you'll have to make appearances."

"I remember, don't worry, love. I haven't lost me marbles yet."

"Are you going to be alright, Dad?" Katie asked, nervously. "It's just that, we'll be gone for a couple weeks at a time, and well...,"

Rob shook his head. "Look, Katie...," he said gently, "I know you're worried about the old man, but I'll be fine." He pulled away, intent on going to the kitchen for some breakfast, when a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Katie?"

She looked up from where she was grabbing her portfolio and bags. "Yeah?"

"What's up with Emsy lately?" He asked her, concerned about his baby girl.

Katie looked away quickly, knowing that it really wasn't her place to tell him, but Jesus, she was tired of having to be the only one dealing with this. Not only did she have to worry about Emily, she also had seen the way it had been effecting Naomi as well.

"Girl problems." Was all she said.

Rob frowned at that, hating the fact that Emily was stuck in a relationship that made her unhappy with a girl that made her unhappy, but he didn't know how to broach the subject with her. This would've been a problem that Jenna could've helped her with.

The thought of his late wife sent a wave of sadness through him. Something he hadn't experienced in a long time.

"Don't worry about Emsy, Dad." Katie said quickly, bringing him out of his head. "She'll be fine, yeah? You know Emily. Always bounces back, she does."

"Oh, I know that, love...it just seems that she's more distracted this time." He said, thinking about the hammer incident. "I don't want her so off her game that she completely damages herself."

"Trust me, Dad. Emily just needs to figure some things out, yeah?" Katie told him, hoping it would reassure him. "Hopefully sooner rather than later." She muttered under her breath. "Alright, I'm off!" She exclaimed quickly, looking at her mobile for the time, as the taxi honked outside.

"Alright. Call me when you get there!" He called after her before the door could close behind her.

He shook his head and went into the kitchen, making a note to have a word with Emily tonight.

* * *

Effy watched from the doorway as Naomi sat with her mobile in hand, texting furiously with a smile on her face. This had been a recurring theme since a week after they got back from Bristol.

That weekend ended shortly after Naomi came face to face with Emily's girlfriend. Effy forced Naomi to tell her what was going on, and that's when her best mate spilled every dirty detail of hers and Emily's night together in London. What was really hard for Effy to get over, was the fact that Naomi cried, a lot, whilst she was telling Effy everything.

Effy had never seen Naomi cry over a girl before. But then again, Naomi didn't get attached to any one girl. It was sort of her thing. Love 'em and leave 'em, that was Naomi's motto.

So, for the past month, whenever Emily's name was brought up, Naomi would stiffen slightly and leave the room. Her and Katie noticed it almost right away, but neither one of them said anything about it, choosing to merely stand back and wait for the shit show to start once Emily and her crew came on board full time.

Naomi grinned as her fingers flew over the touchscreen of her mobile, and Effy cringed, knowing who her friend was texting.

 _Her!_ The whore of Hackney! Naomi had met Elysse Grainger about a week after Bristol. During that first week, Naomi was shagging just about anything in a skirt, drinking an insane amount of alcohol and reverting back to her fucked up youth.

Until Elysse came along and presented herself to Naomi as a tall, blonde, brown-eyed bombshell.

 _Effy couldn't help but roll her eyes at how obvious Elysse was when she clocked Naomi standing at the bar of the club Naomi had dragged Effy to. Elysse didn't waste anytime getting cosy with Naomi, until soon enough, Effy couldn't find a trace of either girl._

 _It wasn't until she entered the loo to freshen up her makeup that Effy found them, exiting the last cubicle, giggling and straightening their clothes._

 _"Oh, hey, Effs." Naomi squealed drunkenly, red faced. A sure sign that she was drunk and had probably taken a pill of some kind as well._

 _"Naomi." Effy drawled out, raising one thin eyebrow, smirk affixed as if nothing was wrong. "Having fun, are we?"_

 _"Loads!" Naomi said nodded her head along with her words as Elise giggled again. "We were just talking."_

 _Effy snorted, gracefully, and her smirk ticked upward. "Talking? Hmm...is that what the kids are calling it these days?" She asked quietly._

 _Naomi could tell that she had pushed her mate a bit too far, as Effy kept her gaze on her. "Um...well...," she stuttered, unsure of what to say._

 _"Nai," Elysse whined, causing Naomi to cringe and Effy to glare at her, but she was too wasted to notice, "I thought we were going back to my place?"_

 _"I think it's well past time for Naomi to get home," Effy said, turning her eyes back to Naomi's, "don't you think, Nai? We do have an early start in the morning."_

 _Naomi nodded, as she pulled away from the tall blonde, intent on following Effy out of the bathroom._

 _"But, Nai! You said we could spend the night together?" Elysse cried out._

 _Effy ground her teeth together, shooting a look toward Naomi telling her to stay put, and she walked back to the blonde. "Give me your number. If she wants to call you she will, got it?"_

 _Elysse was on the verge of saying something, but the look Effy shot her told her it would be a big mistake. "Whatever." Elysse gave Effy the number and silently watched as Effy led Naomi out of the loo._

Effy could only shake her head as she watched Naomi. She had been tempted to forget the number and not give it to Naomi, but once Naomi sobered up, she begged and pleaded for it, to the point where Effy gave it to her just to shut her up.

She didn't know that Naomi's hookup would lead to this.

"Who you texting?" Effy asked, as she pushed herself away from the doorjamb and walked into the room.

Naomi looked up and smiled. "Elysse. She's bored at work and is asking if I can come round and fix that." She explained with a chuckle.

"Naomi, what are you doing with her?" Effy sighed.

Naomi looked back up and frowned. "What do you mean? I like her, Effs."

Effy shook her head and sighed. "I almost wished you were shagging Sophia." She mumbled quietly.

"What?"

"C'mon, Nai. Everyone knows about her reputation." Effy said, talking about Elysse again. "A month ago, you wouldn't have been caught dead with her, and now you're, what? In a relationship?"

Naomi shrugged, sent off one last text, and then put her mobile away. "Look, Effy. I have to grow up sometime, don't I? So Elysse got around in the past, so did I, it's not a big deal. I have fun with her, she's good in bed and she's not hard to look at."

"Just good in bed? Because if I'm not mistaken, you said Emi-,"

"Don't!" Naomi cut her off, her gaze hard and her nostrils flared out, showing her anger. "You promised that you wouldn't bring her up."

Effy felt chastened like a schoolgirl. "You're right, Naomi. l'm sorry, but it's something you're going to have to deal with, yeah? Next week we start filming and you and I both know that you'll be working side by side with her."

Naomi was about to comment, when a knock on the door stopped her. She should have payed attention to the time, but she didn't and when she looked over to see who was knocking, her heart thumped hard in her chest as she saw soft brown eyes.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

 _'It's only Katie...just Katie. Not her.'_ Naomi thought to herself as she willed her heart to slow down, but she didn't know whether to be glad about the fact that it was just Katie or to be sad about it.

"Not at all, Katie. Come on in." Effy greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning, Naomi." Katie said as she stepped into the room and took a seat next to the blonde.

"I'm...uh...yeah, I'm good." Naomi stumbled her way back to reality, as Katie smiled at her. She had been lost in thought when Katie first walked into the room, remembering that Katie and her were twins. Twins who kind of looked alike, but were different, unless Katie turned just the right way, and smiled slightly. And then Naomi could feel herself choking with an emotion she didn't have a name for. So she looked away so it didn't hurt so much. "Yeah...I'm great. Can we get started please?" Naomi clarified, knowing that it sounded rude, but unable to help it.

"Of course." Katie replied, as she pulled out the last of the designs that her and Emily had worked on. "This is the last of it. Every house is designed to fit in with each location. Naomi, I figured we'll head over and inspect the buildings already at each one, see if they need to be demolished so we can start from scratch or if we can use the existing foundations and just renovate."

"Yeah. Sounds good." Naomi made notes in her journal, doing her best to keep herself distracted with work. "We can start with the two closest locations today, but I've got to be back by seven. And then we're free to do as many as we can until Wednesday afternoon." Katie and Effy looked at each other before turning a questioning gaze to Naomi.

"What's happening on Wednesday?" Effy asked, unaware of any plans Naomi had.

"Mum's coming home on Wednesday, Effs." Naomi said. "I told you last week that she had dealt with everything and wanted to come home."

Effy felt sad all of a sudden as she thought of Naomi's mum, Gina. "Right, you did tell me." Effy told her, reaching over to grip her hand in a show of support. "How's she doing?"

"She's fine. Really, Effs." Naomi smiled a small smile as she thought about her mum. "You know Gina, can't keep her down for long."

"I'm sorry, but should I leave?" Katie asked sheepishly, which was uncharacteristic of her, but she felt that whatever they were talking about should be private. "It just seems like a private conversation."

Naomi shook her head. "No...no, sorry. I should tell you, you're bound to find out anyway. My mum is moving back to London from Ireland."

"Oh, that's nice." Katie smiled wistfully, as she thought about her own mother.

"My dad died, well my stepdad actually, about two years ago and she wanted to start fresh, ya know? Too many memories for her, being there in the home they shared." Naomi explained, then added with a smile, "And I don't want her to be there all alone."

Katie sat up straighter in her seat upon hearing Naomi's words. "I'm so sorry, Nai."

Naomi shrugged, but she couldn't help remembering her dad. "It's alright, Katie. It was a blessing, if I'm being honest." She told the older twin. "He had been sick with cancer for years, and about two years before he passed, he told my mum that he wanted to die in the land of his forefathers. The sentimental Irish bastard." She laughed, talking about him for the first time since he passed, without wanting to cry.

Effy smiled as she watched her friend open up about her mum and dad. She remembered how hard Naomi reacted over losing Kieran and rightly so. He was a good man and he took on another man's child and raised her as his own. Effy remembered when Gina and Kieran moved to Ireland. Her friend was sad for months, until she was able to get a break from school to go and visit them.

She looked up from her desk to find Naomi and Katie talking quietly. "So ladies, shall we get to work?"

They all agreed and gathered up their things and headed out of Naomi's office, on their way to check out the first house on the list for renovation.

* * *

 _ ****PING****_

"Fucking hell!" Emily cried out in frustration when her mobile alerted her to an incoming text.

"Wot?" Cook looked over in confusion.

Emily, Cook and Freddie were finishing the house in Brislington and they would've been done ages ago, but she kept getting interrupted.

"Georgie!" Emily informed him, holding up her mobile. " _Again_!"

"Like fucking clockwork." Freddie said, shaking his head, as he went back to screwing a light fixture into place. "Why do you put up with that, Emsy?"

Emily shrugged, but stayed silent. Only because she didn't really know how to answer that question without making herself sound pathetic. The only reason she could really think of was because Georgina was safe? Or just maybe because she wasn't good with change?

"Ya know wot I think?" Cook called out from the bathroom he was standing in, where he was installing outlet covers, breaking her from her thoughts. "I don't think you should've jumped into a relationship wiv her, not after wot happened wiv Felic-,"

" _Cook_!" Freddie cut him off, quickly.

"Wot?" He asked stepping out of the small room, giving Freddie a confused look. "We all know she didn't allow herself to get back out there after that bitch!"

Freddie just shook his head in reply, knowing that Cook could be insensitive at times. "We promised to never say that name again, remember?"

Emily stood up from her spot on the floor and sighed to remind them both that she was still in the room. "It's alright, Freds." She shrugged her shoulders, as she stepped around him to look at Cook. "You're right, I know you're right, but it just happened."

"Just like London happened?" Freddie asked, a smirk on his face as Emily's face turned red.

"London was a mistake, Freddie. It shouldn't have happened." Almost regretting her decision to tell them all about what happened with Naomi.

Cook and Freddie looked at each other, the doubt showing, then they both looked at Emily.

"I'm not buying that load of shit!" Cook exclaimed, shaking his head.

"What?" Emily asked, her voice more husky than normal due to the fact that she was shocked that Cook was calling her out on her shit. "It's true."

"I don't know who yer tryin' to convince, Emsy, us or you," he replied grinning, "but you forget, princess, we was in that same club, watchin' you two and I don't know 'bout Freds here, but I've never seen you look at Georgie like that!"

She looked at Freddie, hoping that he would back her up, but her shoulders sagged when she saw that he was silently agreeing with Cook.

"I have too looked at Georgie like that." She said, but it sounded unconvincing. "Can we finish up here, please? We need to get all our equipment together and loaded up."

Freddie and Cook chuckled as they finished up. Once they installed all the outlet covers and did a final inspection through the finished house, they locked up and gathered their tools, making sure they had everything. One their way back to the office, Emily lost herself in the past, wondering if Cook was right.

 _Emily had known for some time that she was gay, but she was scared to say anything._

 _Until university. Until Felicity Hintz._

 _Emily had met Felicity the second week of uni, when they were in the same calculus and physics classes together. She was instantly attracted to the other girl's dark looks and intelligence. They had paired up for studying and after a few months, Felicity made Emily feel comfortable enough to admit that she was a lesbian. Once she told the other girl her secret, Felicity had decided that she would help Emily come out in style._

 _They started hitting up gay bars and clubs, and it didn't hurt that Felicity had been out for a few years herself, because she started introducing Emily to friends of hers. She had even helped Emily to come out to Katie, both of them knowing that the older twin wouldn't handle it so well._

 _By the second year of uni, Katie had accepted the fact that her sister was a muffmuncher and Emily had fallen hard for Felicity, so she plucked up the courage to tell her. They started seeing each other regularly and Emily felt for sure it was real. She had even taken Felicity home to meet her dad, despite Katie not liking her._

 _Emily was so sure that Felicity was the one, that she let Felicity take her virginity one night after they had gone to dinner and then out to a club. She had been ready to find out what the big deal was and wanted to share it with Felicity. And in Emily's mind, sex with her girlfriend was the greatest thing ever, so Emily initiated it whenever she could._

 _She was so happy and content with her life, that she didn't even notice when the first cracks started to appear. It started off as a simple argument over dirty dishes, in Emily and Katie's flat._

 _Emily had started working for a friend of her dad's on a construction crew during that same time, on top of a full course load at uni. There were days when she could barely get out of bed, she was so tired._

 _Felicity complained about the lack of attention, but Emily insisted it was for their future together and that seemed to appease the other girl until, on a rare day off for Emily, Felicity had snuck over to spend some alone time with her, knowing that Katie had gone home for the weekend._

 _Her plan was to make Emily a nice lunch and then maybe some quality time in the bedroom, but when she stepped into the flat's tiny kitchen, Felicity looked at the state of the room and immediately went into a rage._

 _Emily was awakened by an angry Felicity throwing dishes around, banging pots and pans together. She groggily stumbled out into the kitchen to find her girlfriend furiously cleaning._

 _"Honey, what are you doing here?" Emily asked, her voice still husky with sleep and a lazy smile on her face._

 _Felicity turned to glare at her. "Well, honey, I thought I'd surprise you with lunch, but how can I cook when it's a fucking mess in here? Seriously, Emsy...you're supposed to be an adult! You should really start acting like it!"_

 _The tone of Felicity's voice and the words she was shouting were enough to throw Emily off balance for a few seconds. She had never spoken this way to Emily before, so it was different to say the least. But the shock only lasted for a few more moments, when Felicity went to throw something in the rubbish bin next to Emily, and it hit her instead of the container._

 _"What the fuck, Fee?" Emily cried out, rubbing the spot where she had been hit._

 _"If it had been taken care of before now, you wouldn't have been hit with it, right?" Felicity questioned, not even the slightest remorseful about the way she was acting. "You know what? Fuck this, Emily! I didn't come over here to be your fucking maid!"_

 _"No one asked you to be my maid, Fee! What the fuck is happening here?" Emily shouted out as she watched her girlfriend head toward the door._

 _"What's happening here is that I'm finding out my girlfriend, who I thought was an adult is in fact still a child that can't clean after herself!" Felicity snapped at her while opening the door._

 _Emily's heart was thumping hard against her rib cage. "That's not fair, Felicity! You know that Katie and I have been working full time, plus going to classes!" She yelled back, feeling tears brimming over to spill down her cheeks, as anger and humiliation warred with each other._

 _"Call me when you've grown up!" Felicity shouted, slamming the door behind her, leaving Emily alone and devastated._

Emily was quickly brought back to the present when Cook dug his elbow into her side. "What?" She asked, blinking rapidly trying to focus.

"Are you gonna sit in here all night or are ya gonna come inside?" He asked her, as she looked around and noticed that they were at the office. "What were ya thinkin bout?"

Emily shook her head, as if to shake away the past. "Nothing. C'mon, lets go and get everything together."

Emily rushed past her friend into the office and prepared to deal with something simple, like making sure she had her tool belt.

* * *

"Katie, whatdya think about this one?" Naomi asked the older twin as they walked around one of the properties the Stonem Group had purchased.

Katie stopped inspecting the foundation and turned toward the blonde. "This one would be a renovation." She stated in a matter of fact tone, making a note on her clipboard.

"Are you sure?" Naomi eyed the house, doubting that it would last much longer. "It looks like it'd fall down if I breathed on it too hard."

Katie laughed out loud, shaking her head. "Nai, you have to look at the foundations." She said as she pointed toward the ground. "Look here and along here?"

Naomi followed the twin as they walked around the house. "Okay?" She asked, no really sure what she was looking at.

Katie rolled her eyes at the blonde, chuckling as she saw Effy walking back up the street. "See where the concrete meets the siding?" Naomi nodded and Katie smiled. "There's no cracking. That means the foundation is solid and we can just work with what's here, yeah?"

"But you gave us designs for every house?" Naomi questioned, still confused.

"Emily said it was a back up, just in case." Katie explained, not missing the flinch from Naomi when her sister was mention, but she chose to ignore. "That way we weren't left scrambling when it came time for each job."

"Okay."

Naomi replied, more subdued, causing Katie to sigh. "Look, Nai...Emily's not perfect, yeah?" Katie said, wanting to clarify that her sister was a good person.

Naomi quickly brought her eyes up to stare at the older twin in surprise. "What?"

"We're not supposed to talk about her." Effy drawled with a smirk affixed on her face, as she finally came back from talking to Gerald and her mum. "Isn't that right, Naomi?"

Naomi shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot under the gaze of Effy and Katie. "Whatever." She mumbled.

"Look, like I said, Emsy's not perfect. She...makes mistakes sometimes, yeah?"

Naomi scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you're calling me a mistake, thanks, Katiekins."

"That's not what I meant," Katie replied, feeling her face flush in embarrassment, "I'm just trying to say that you shouldn't judge her, okay? Yes, she slept with you and yes, she has a girlfriend and technically that makes her a cheater, but...,"

"But what, Katie? It's okay for her to lead me on?" Naomi felt herself getting emotional, she could almost hear it in her voice, and she knew she had to change the subject. "Ya know what? Never mind. Don't answer that, because I just don't care."

Katie and Effy exchanged a knowing look, before the twin turned back to Naomi. "Of course you don't, but I'm just wondering if the two of you will be able to work together? I know that she can be frustrating to deal with."

"I know how to be professional, Katie. As long as your sister can keep it in her pants, we'll be sorted, yeah?" Naomi spat out, annoyed with herself and the conversation. She looked at her mobile to check the time, noticing that it was almost time to meet up with Elysse. "Are we done here? I've got a date."

Katie nodded and Effy smirked, as Naomi turned and headed toward her car, leaving the two girls to watch her go.

"C'mon, Kay, I'll buy you dinner and we can discuss how watching my best mate and your sister is gonna be the best entertainment we'll have in years."

Katie laughed, agreeing with a nod of her head and followed Effy down the street to her car. "It will be very interesting to see what happens."

* * *

 **Well? Review and let me know what you think...I know it's kind of a filler, but I do have a plan for this and I won't wait so long to post the next chapter... Also, I am working on TBWITB and YBHMHAA, and seeing as how the Christmas season is upon us once again... you all know what that means!**

 **Yes! An update for The Naomily Clause! I will be updating that with in the next week or so, so fear not my friends...I have not, nor will I ever abandon these stories or the fandom...**

 **Love to each and every one of you:)**


	4. Red and Green

**A/N:** **Holy fuck, who gave me permission to wait almost a full month to update this? Was it you? How bout you? Well, whoever it was, I'll have you know, I've had a small gathering outside my house and it looked like they had the torches and pitchforks again...of course, they could've been after the update for TBWITB...hmm...curious.**

 **This one is the rest of Emily's past with the cunt Felicity and I just wanna point out, that Katie Fucking Fitch is a total badass! And a quick warning about some of the content in this chapter...***Domestic Violence*** is implied and somewhat detailed, just in case you wanna skim those parts.**

 **Anyhoo, I'll just leave this here for y'all and you let me know what you think, yeah?**

 **Alright, quick shout out to all the writers on this site and for this fandom, I've got mad love for you all :)**

 **Major shoutout to MsWitsEnd, because she's awesome and her story kicks ass and she called me her partner in crime...aww :) and I totally blushed at that, because no one's ever called me their partner in crime before, and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy ;D Check out her story, Stonem House...seriously, go do it! Don't forget to leave her some loving!**

 **Disclaimer...disclaimer...disclaimer...oh, yeah...as if we already didn't know, I don't own Skins or any Skins characters, but I'm finding that I'm a way better writer than some people (She Who Must Not Be Named)...just saying!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Red and Green**

"Don't forget, sweetheart, I'll be in London on Wednesday." Georgina called out from the kitchen of Emily's flat.

Emily, who was in her room packing her bags, rolled her eyes and chose to stay silent. She didn't want Georgie coming to London at all, but after what happened the last time she saw Naomi, Emily obviously wasn't to be trusted.

"Emily? Sweetheart? Did you hear me?" Georgie stepped into the room, smiling at Emily as if she were a small child. "Dear?"

"Don't call me that!" Emily snapped, seeing the fallen look on Georgie's face. "I don't like it and I've asked you repeatedly not to call me that."

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Emily, but the last couple of months, your attitude has become undesirable." Georgie said, almost condescendingly, a frown firmly in place. "Does this have anything to do with that girl?"

Emily sighed loudly, knowing she was in for another round of guilt. "No, Georgina, it has to do with the fact that I hate it when you call me sweetheart and dear!" She snapped as she finished throwing her clothes into her bag, before moving to the en-suite to gather her toiletries. "You'd think that after two and a half years of dating someone, they'd know that!"

Georgina stayed quiet, not really wanting to argue with Emily before she left, but it was hard to do. When Emily came back into the room with her things, she cleared her throat and tried again. "Emily, please? I don't want to fight with you."

"You could've fooled me, Georgie." Emily said harshly, as she zipped up her bag, but then sighed. "Look, how about you don't come to London on Wednesday, it's going to be hectic and chaotic...," she knew right now was the time to tell the other girl it was over, but when she looked up and saw the frown deepen on Georgie's face, she knew she couldn't do it, "just...give me a week or two, yeah?" She asked, softer than before, angry at herself for backing down.

Georgina smiled and stepped over to wrap Emily up in a hug, not noticing Emily's sigh of frustration. "A week or two?" Georgie smiled into Emily's hair, where she buried her face. "I don't like it, but I think I can manage that."

The two spent another hour together, eating a late dinner, before Freddie knocked on Emily's door, indicating that it was time to go. He grabbed her bags as Georgie and Emily walked out behind him.

"I'll walk you to your car, yeah?" Emily told her, giving her a smile, hoping that would be enough of a goodbye, as she locked her door.

Georgina was disappointed that Emily didn't ask her to stay at her flat, but decided to let it go for now. "Yeah, alright."

After a brief goodbye kiss and hug, Emily watched as Georgie pulled out of the car park, relieved to be able to breathe properly. With her mind on Naomi and the added complication of thoughts of Felicity, Emily felt like she was choking with Georgina around. And if she was being honest with herself, which didn't happen to often these days, that's how being with Georgie made her feel. Like she was drowning and her throat and lungs were filling up with water.

Emily sat in the back seat of Cook's truck, ignoring as he and Freddie argued over the music, and found herself lost in the past again.

 _Emily watched Felicity slam the door behind her and felt as if the world was just pulled out from underneath her. She had no idea what had just happened, had never experienced anything like that before and once the anger wore off, she was crushed at the feeling of emptiness. Emily didn't know what to do, when after repeated attempts to contact Felicity went unanswered, so she called the only person she knew she could talk to._

 _Katie rushed back from Bristol to console her sister, telling her it was only their first fight and that it wasn't the end of their relationship. It took a lot of wine and a lot of convincing on Katie's part to get Emily back into fighting Fitch form and when a couple days later, Felicity came round with flowers and tears in her eyes begging for Emily's forgiveness, Emily wasn't so easy on her._

 _But in the end, Emily did forgive Felicity, because the thought of being without her was too much for Emily to bear, and things went smoothly until they weren't so smooth anymore._

 _What started out as verbal barbs aimed at Emily's inability to concentrate fully on Felicity and her poor decision to do a double major at school and work full time. Those emotional bullets always seemed to hit their target every time, slowly breaking downing Emily's self-confidence, until around the middle of term, Emily stopped focusing on classes, barely managing to attend at all._

 _Emily spent more time working and less time at home, causing Katie to grow suspicious, but the older twin's questions about where Emily was during the day and night went unanswered._

 _Toward the end of term, Felicity's hurtful words turned into shoving matches when Emily started drinking with the guys on her crew, coming in drunk so she could avoid any "meaningful" heart to hearts with her girlfriend. Bruises and scratches found after blackouts were at first attributed to Emily's drunken escapades with her two new best mates, Cook and Freddie, but Felicity had an apology ready every time and Emily forgave her every time, even though the thought of be with Felicity scared Emily as much as the though of being without her. Emily lied over and over about the bruises, too ashamed to admit the truth, but Katie soon discovered the real reason for them._

 _Emily had made the decision to stay at her place alone one night, not really caring that it made her girlfriend angry, because she needed a break. She had gone out with Cook and Freddie, and for a while she forgot about how shitty her life was at the moment, because her friends made it easy to chat up girls in the club and have a good time._

 _Meanwhile, Felicity had decided that she didn't like Emily making decisions and was going to let her know that. But she made the mistake of not making sure Katie wasn't at home when she snuck into their apartment with the key she had guilted out of Emily. She sneered as she looked around the flat, thinking how childish the place looked as she made her way to Emily's room to wait._

 _Emily slipped her key into the lock around three in the morning, intending to make her way to bed and sleep for a week. She tip-toed as quietly as she could toward her room, not wanting to wake up Katie. Emily didn't know that on the other side of her door was a ticking time bomb._

 _Felicity heard Emily when she came home and the anger that had been simmering the longer she sat there waiting was now at a boiling rage. The only thoughts running through her head was how to punish Emily for making her wait._

 _Emily opened the door slowly, stepping into her room and shut it behind her, flipping the switch to light the room._

 _"Did you have a nice night out?"_

 _Emily squealed and jumped as a quiet voice broke the silence in the room. She turned and stared at Felicity, who was sitting with her back against Emily's headboard, arms folded across her chest and a glare on her face._

 _Emily felt her knees start to weaken as fear rushed through her. "What are you doing here, Fee? I thought I told you-,"_

 _Felicity's laughter rang out through the room, effectively cutting off Emily's words. "You thought, Emily! That was your first mistake. You should know better than to think! It's not like you make the right decisions anyway, is it?" Even though her voice was still quiet, the words were razor sharp, cutting through what little self-esteem Emily had left. "Do you know how long I've been sitting here, in this shithole, waiting for you?"_

 _Emily felt the urge to throw up, as she stood there with her eyes downcast, unable to say anything._

 _"I asked you a fucking question! Are you deaf now as well?" Felicity screamed as she flew off the bed to stand in front of Emily. She reached up and gripped Emily's chin, forcing her to look up. "I'm not pleased, Emily. And we know what happens when I'm not pleased, don't we?"_

 _Emily was shaking with a mixture of fear and rage. 'How did I end up like this?' She asked herself as she stayed silent in the face of her very angry girlfriend. 'This isn't who I am!' She remembered telling Freddie a little about what had been going on with Felicity and he told her that she needed to end it and Cook agreed wholeheartedly, but right now, as she stood face to face with her girlfriend, Emily was scared._

 _The thing that Emily didn't tell Freddie or Cook, what she knew she would never tell Katie or her dad, was that Felicity had become violent. And her punches hit their targets just as well as her words did. Emily wasn't stupid, she figured out where all those bruises and scratches came from months ago. It didn't help that Felicity took a sick amount of pleasure in letting Emily know the truth._

 _"See, Emily? You're not listening to me," Felicity stated as her hand shot out, lightening fast, connecting with Emily's right cheek._

 _The force of it knocked Emily back, causing her to hit the door with the back of her head, the loud thump echoing throughout the flat and if looks could kill, Emily would probably be dead right about now. Felicity was shaking so bad with rage, that she looked like she was having a seizure almost. Emily knew what was coming, but she couldn't react fast enough, as Felicity struck out again, this time with a closed fist._

 _It still shocked her that this had become her life. That this broken shell, is what Emily had allowed herself to become. Felicity's hands moved so fast that Emily didn't even see them, but she felt them. After the first couple of hits, Emily heard a sickening crunch._

 _"You never fucking listen, sweetheart!" Felicity said, almost calmly, between punches. "I've told you that I didn't like you going out with those two tossers, but yet, you still continue to do it!"_

 _It was true, Emily thought to herself, Felicity had made her views of Cook and Freddie quite clear. And this wasn't the first time she had to remind Emily, but over the last ten months it had been getting worse._

 _Felicity knew all the right words to say. She had been grooming Emily for the role of the battered wife for awhile now. 'Yes, domestic abuse happens in lesbian relationships too.' Emily thought to herself on more than one occasion. People tend to think that, just because it's two women, that it can't but it does. One thing Emily learned quickly was that Felicity hates it when she's not in control._

 _"Come along, dear." Felicity reached and grabbed a handful of Emily's hair as she started to black out, dragging her up on to her feet and toward the bed._

 _The pain Emily was feeling was getting to be too much for her to bear and she cried out when she felt herself being pushed but wasn't close enough to the bed and ended up falling against the end-table._

 _"Emily?"_

 _Through the pain, Emily heard her sister calling from the other side of the door and she knew Katie would finally find out her secret. Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she heard Felicity come around and kneel down next to her._

 _"If you know what's good for you," Felicity had heard Katie as well, "you'll keep your mouth shut, isn't that right, sweetheart?"_

Emily hated pet names, especially sweetheart and dear, because Felicity had always used them. She was brought out of her head by Freddie letting her know that they were almost to London and she was glad she chose to sit in the back of the truck as she wiped away the tears that had fallen silently, that way Emily didn't have to see the pity on the faces of her friends.

 _'That's why I stay with Georgina.'_ Emily thought to herself, bitterly. _'Because I don't know how to handle anyone else!'_

* * *

Effy and Katie were working on getting drunk by the time Freddie called Katie to let her know they were almost there. Effy had suggested that they meet up at the pub they were at and when Katie told Freddie, the three of them agreed.

So now Katie and Effy sat waiting.

"So explain to me why Emily stays with her girlfriend." Effy wanted to know more about the younger twin.

They had talked about the potential fireworks between Emily and Naomi earlier on, but Effy was intrigued by the girlfriend and what kind of hold she would have on Emily, who seemed to have two different sides to her.

"Emily likes to think that Georgina's uncomplicated." Katie slurred as she took another drink from her pint. "She thinks Georgie doesn't or won't expect too much from her and there's a level of safety for Emsy."

"Interesting." Effy smirked into her own glass. "Why would she want that?"

Katie sighed, as she sat back in her seat. "Emily's had a rough past few years, yeah?" She said, feeling guilty for talking about her sister, but fuck if she didn't need someone to talk to. It was easy for Emily because she had the boys, but Katie didn't have anyone and what had happened to Emily affected her as well.

"You don't have to talk about it, Katie." Effy said, as she leant across the table, placing a comforting hand on Katie's arm. "I'm just a curious person, not a gossip."

Katie shrugged. "It's alright. It's just...," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "it's hard to talk about, mainly for the fact that I'm not supposed to talk about it, ya know? Emily won't allow us to and sometimes I feel the need to."

"I know we don't know each other that well," Effy said with a small smile, "but I'll listen if you need to talk."

Katie felt years of frustration and guilt at the whole Felicity situation finally come to a head, so she pushed the guilt aside for telling Emily's story to someone else and started at the beginning, coming to the night it ended.

 _Katie awoke with a start as a loud thud sounded throughout the flat. She had to will her heart to slow down so she could hear if someone was in the flat with her. She heard a soft whimper coming from across the hall. 'Fuck, Emsy!' She thought to herself, as she pulled herself out of bed to go and check on her drunken sister._

 _She had hardly seen Emily in the past few weeks. With Emily choosing to start skipping classes lately and spending her spare time with that bitch, it really put a huge dent in their twin time._

 _She padded across the hall and knocked gently on the door. "Emily?" She called through the closed door, then heard shuffling. Katie shook her head as she waited a few seconds more before turning the knob and opening the door enough to stick her head in. "Emily, did you go out drinking with the boys again?"_

 _Katie eyes widened when she saw Felicity who, she knew for a fact, wasn't supposed to be here. Emily had called the girl earlier during the day whilst they were at work to tell her she wanted to spend the night at home, alone. "What the fuck are you doing here? Where's Emily?" She spat out, not seeing her sister._

 _"I met up with Emsy at the pub." Felicity said calmly, but the contempt for Katie was dripping from her tongue. "You know how she gets when she's been drinking, so I brought her home. Silly girl tripped and fell." She shrugged her shoulders as she nodded with her head to where Emily lay._

 _"Kay...," it was quiet, but Katie had been in tune to Emily's voice for so long, she'd probably be able to hear it from a mile away._

 _Katie stepped further into the room, coming around to the side of the bed and finally saw Emily lying there, bleeding. "What the fuck, Emsy!" She cried out as she rushed over to Emily, who had finally passed out. "What the fuck happened to her?" Katie growled at the dark headed girl._

 _The glare that Katie aimed at Felicity was so fierce that Felicity shrank back from the force of it before she shored up her defences to growl back at the older twin. "How the fuck should I know? I'm not your sister's keeper!"_

 _Katie caught the underlying hint of the lie as Felicity tried her best to glare back at Katie. "Really? Because I'm more than positive that that's exactly what you try to be, bitch!"_

 _Felicity didn't like dealing with Katie because she couldn't control Katie. She knew that the older twin wouldn't be cowed into submission like Emily had been, but she started this little game and she knew she would have to see it through._

 _"Listen, you cunt-," Felicity started to say, but was cut off by the vibrating carbon copy of her girlfriend, forcefully._

 _"You'd better listen, and listen good...," Katie said, an eerie calm to her voice, as she watched the dark headed girl cup the cheek that Katie had just slapped, "...I'm not Emily, yeah? I know the both of you think your really good at hiding your secrets, but you're not. And if you think, for even a second, that I'm letting you walk out of here, you really are as stupid as you look."_

 _Katie saw the flash of fear in Felicity's eyes as she tried to back away from the older twin and before she could follow, she felt Emily grip her hand._

 _"Katie...," Emily said weakly._

 _"How long, Emsy?" Katie asked quietly, knowing that Emily would know exactly what she was talking about._

 _"Months, maybe a year...," Emily coughed, then squeezed her eyes shut as the pain flared up, "I-I...don't know...for s-sure." Katie didn't respond with words as she let go of Emily and laid her head gently back down._

 _Felicity had made her way to the door whilst Katie was busy with Emily, intending to leave before anything else was said, but just as she reached out for the doorknob, her head was snapped back as Katie grabbed a fistful of her hair._

 _"Fucking hell!" Felicity screamed out, as the pain ripped along her skull, but that pain was nothing compared to what was coming next._

 _Katie used her forward motion to slam the other girl's head into the door and was satisfied when she saw blood on the door as Felicity dropped to the floor. "Did you think you'd be able to get away with this forever? That I wouldn't find out?" Katie asked her, as the other girl tried to get up._

 _The older twin stood there, giving herself a moment to get her rage under control. The last thing she needed was to get nicked for manslaughter, which was a very real possibility. But when she glanced back over at Emily and saw the way she was laying there, curled into a ball to protect herself, Katie knew that she had to do whatever possible to make for sure Felicity would never do this again._

 _"I'm just curious, Fee," Katie started to say as she watched the other girl wipe the blood off her face, "why Emily? What did she ever do to you?"_

 _Felicity glared up at the twin and scoffed. "Because I could! She made it too fucking easy, didn't she!" Felicity shouted at Katie. "Because she's mine!"_

 _"She did?" Katie asked in mock surprise. "Well, I guess maybe she may have made it a bit easy for you, you know, being in love with you and all. So I guess this is all her fault...,"_

 _Felicity struggled to her feet, but then stared at Katie, suddenly confused. "If she had only acted the way I told her to, this never would have happened."_

 _"So you're going to tell me this was all Emily? Because she...she didn't fit your idea of who she should be?" Katie's lisp was present, a sure sign that she was about to explode, but Felicity didn't know that. "You're so bloody fucking stupid!" Katie screamed as she lunged at the taller girl, grabbing her by the throat and with the muscles given to her by Rob Fitch, threw her against the door and started throwing punch after punch._

 _Every time Felicity made a move to break free from Katie's grasp, the older twin would once again grab her by the throat and throw back against the door._

 _"She's yours?" Katie questioned as she threw a right hook that landed in Felicity's face, causing her head to snap back. "She's never been yours! You don't deserve her!"_

 _Felicity did her best to fend off Katie's attack, but the older twin was too strong, too fast and she used closed fists. No slaps from Katie, nope! Papa Fitch made sure his girls knew how to defend themselves. Katie's punches landed in her stomach and ribs, and she almost passed out, but she held herself in check._

 _"You fucking cunt! How dare you lay your hands on my sister? What gave you the right?" Katie demanded in between punches._

 _Katie landed one last blow to Felicity's face and the girl's head flew back in to the door. The twin watched as dark eyes rolled back into her head and she slid down the door, crumbling at Katie's feet. The sound of Emily crying on the floor brought Katie back around to her, as sirens could be heard faintly outside._

 _"Emsy." Katie cried when Emily opened her eyes, but didn't stop brushing her face. "We need to get you to A &E."_

 _Emily was in the verge of saying something, but her jaw closed with an audible click, as the twins heard shuffling behind them. Katie glanced over her shoulder to where Felicity was halfway to a standing position._

 _"She's not going anywhere! Not with with you!" Felicity growled out as blood trickled down her face from the open gashes she had received from the older twin, as she held her arm across her torso._

 _Katie knew it was only a last surge of adrenaline coursing through Felicity, giving her the strength to stand up, but it didn't stop Emily from shaking in fear at the sight of her._

 _Once again, Katie gently laid Emily's head back down, standing up herself and facing the bitch._

 _"You think you're going to stop us?" Katie scoffed at her, as she stepped closer to the girl._

 _She was ready to end this bitch's life, when loud knocking sounded throughout the flat, startling Katie and Felicity. Katie moved toward the door when Felicity reached out and grabbed her, pushing her back with whatever strength she had left._

 _"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"_

 _Katie sneered at her and shrugged. "I'm going to see who's at the door, bitch!" She spat out and tried to reach the door again, just as they both heard a yell from outside the room._

 _"BRISTOL POLICE, OPEN THE DOOR!"_

 _Katie's sneer turned into a smirk as she glared at Felicity. "You're totally fucked now, you stupid fucking cunt!" She said as she pushed Felicity out of the way._

 _Felicity was scared now as she grabbed Katie by the shoulders and whipped her around to face her, angry that she had totally lost control of the situation to Katie. "Who the fuck do you think you are!" She screamed in fury at the older twin._

 _Katie had had enough, as the police officer shouted through the door again. She grabbed ahold of Felicity by the ears, bringing the girl's head down as she brought her knee up. The solid crunch of broken bones could be heard clearly, then Felicity crumbled to the floor again, while Katie stood over her._

 _"I'm Katie Fucking Fitch! Who the fuck are you?" She replied to as Felicity slipped into unconsciousness and then ran from the room, coming face to face with two of Bristol's finest._

 _Come to find out, Emily had been too drunk to make for sure the door was latched and their neighbour, a widowed, elderly woman by the name of Mrs Gates, had heard the screaming and banging around, concerned enough about "those sweet young girls" to call the cops._

"So they hauled the bitch away and I went with Emsy to hospital, where they called our dad." Katie said as she finished telling Effy everything she knew.

"Poor Emily." Effy stated quietly, taking a drink.

"Yeah...she was so ashamed when our dad came into the room and demanded to know what had happened...," Katie was on the verge of tears as she remembered that night, "it...it was a bad time for her. She closed up, wouldn't talk about it at all, started going back to classes full time. Cook and Freddie would drop us off at school and pick us up every night. Emily wouldn't leave the sofa for months unless it was for work or school."

Effy was surprised by everything she had heard. She never would have imagined Emily as the type of person to ever be a victim of any kind, the younger twin seeming so in control and confident, except when it came to her girlfriend or Naomi. She was about to ask more about it, when a shout alerted both girls to new arrivals.

Freddie, Cook and Emily and finally made it to the pub and were headed over to where they were sitting.

Effy quickly smiled at the three of them. She greeted as they took a seat. "Hey, you guys made it. What can I get you guys to drink?" She looked directly at Emily as she asked, noting the hollow look in her eyes as Emily nervously glanced around. "She's not here." Effy leant close to the younger twin and whispered in her ear.

Emily jumped, feeling Effy's breath blow across her cheek. "What? Who?"

Effy merely smirked and her eyes twinkled in the dimly lit pub. "Interesting." She stood back up and gestured toward the bar. "Drinks?" Freddie and Cook nodded and told her what they wanted, with Emily asking for a pint of lager.

Emily and the boys caught up to Effy and Katie, drink wise, and Effy suggested heading to a club she had heard of. So they all set out into the night, opting to walk in the unusually warm night.

As the night wore on, Emily found herself more able to relax with the help of alcohol and without the added tension that having Naomi there would bring, and she was able to enjoy herself on the dance floor. At first with Cook and Freddie, then Katie and Effy joined them, but later Emily found herself grinding against a skanky looking girl. At first she tried to keep her distance but the random just kept getting closer and closer, until Emily felt the rush from the pill really kick in, and then she was lost in world of sights, sounds and sensations.

Katie stood of the dance floor and watched her sister, knowing how she could get on the mix of booze and pills.

"Is she gonna be alright?" Effy shouted over the music, as she came to stand next to the older twin, just as concerned.

Katie nodded slightly. "Yeah. Cook won't let her do anything stupid." She replied, not really taking her eyes off of Emily.

"Won't let who do anything stupid?"

Katie and Effy tensed at the voice behind them.

"Naomi? What are you doing here?" Effy asked in apparent surprise, making sure that she stood in between Naomi and Emily on the dance floor, still grinding shamelessly against the tall brunette.

"Elysse brought me." Naomi said as she stood there, trying to look around, but Effy and Katie suddenly became a wall in front of her.

"Where is your darling girlfriend?" Katie asked, trying her best to hold back the sarcasm, especially after hearing Effy's story earlier. Concern for her sister and Naomi etched all over her face.

Naomi turned to look toward the bar, where Elysse had gone to get drinks. "She's up at the bar somewhere. You guys been here long?"

"Awhile." Effy shrugged, wondering if she should get Naomi to leave or if she should just stand back and watch the train wreck that was about happen. But then the look on Katie's face answered her question for her. "You wanna head up and get another round with me, Nai?"

Naomi shrugged and followed Effy up to the bar, where the brunette ordered a tray of shots, four pints and a glass of wine. Naomi thought it odd for her to get that many drinks for just her and Katie, but she didn't say anything as Katie stepped in to grab one of the pints and the tray and they all started toward the table.

"Honey? There you are!" Elysse came out of the crowd as they were passing by the dance floor. "I've been looking all over for you, sweetie."

"I found Effy, so I went and helped her out." Naomi explained, a bit irritated by the whining in Elysse's voice, but she brushed it off. "C'mon, we're gonna join them."

Elysse, Katie and Effy started to protest, but Naomi's look stopped them all, as the crowd parted in font of them and smack dab in the centre of the dance floor was Emily grinding shamelessly against some slutty looking random, causing the two glasses that Naomi was clutching in her hands to shatter. One as it slipped from her numb fingers of her right hand to the floor, and the glass of wine gripped in her left hand so tightly that the thin, fragile glass exploded under the force of Naomi's fingers.

But Naomi didn't notice the wine or the blood as it dripped from her hand, whilst Effy and Katie rushed to check it out, nor did she notice Elysse whining about whatever it was she was going on about. The only thoughts that ran through Naomi's mind was how gorgeous Emily looked and how fucking jealous she was right at that moment.

* * *

Emily felt eyes on her as the back of her neck tingled, and turned to see if she could pinpoint the source, but she froze where she stood as her brown eyes locked onto the iridescent eyes of the one person she really wanted to be dancing with no matter how much she denied it. She saw Katie and Effy hovering around the blonde, and when her eyes flicked down she could see the dark liquid running down her hand, but just as Emily took a step toward Naomi, the blonde shook her head in warning and anger filled those ice blue eyes. Her anguish was further flamed by the tall dark blonde that rushed over to Naomi, wrapping her arms around her and didn't look to be letting go anytime soon.

She knew that anything she may have had with Naomi was well over before it had even really begun. Emily's heart dropped at the thought, as she turned and made her way quickly through the crowd as she made her escape through the back door and ran.

' _Surprise, surprise!_ ' Emily thought to herself as she made her way to anywhere that didn't include gorgeous blondes, her sister and friends or mysterious brunettes who acted like they knew what you were thinking. "Is this really all I know? If something's too hard, I run?" She spoke aloud, the bitterness think in her voice, whilst keeping her head down as she walked. "This is gonna be a joy once we start filming!"

As Emily was making her way across the city to the apartment she was going to be sharing with Katie, Freddie and Cook, she was unaware that Effy and Katie were taking Naomi to the hospital or that Freddie and Cook were following close behind her, keeping watch.

Cook had had enough when some bloke, who stumbled out of a pub, figured he found an easy target. Cook pushed the guy away as Freddie came up beside Emily and smiled at her.

"C'mon, Emsy." He said, as she looked up at him in surprise. "Let's get you back to the flat, alright?"

Freddie and Cook led her down the streets of London, because after realising that they weren't too far from their flat, they opted to walk back, giving Emily chance to sober up. It didn't help the mumbling that Emily was doing and Cook and Freddie only caught about every other word she said, but she found herself wondering who the dark blonde was and why she ha been hanging all over Naomi.

And why, if Emily had a girlfriend, did the thought of anyone else touching Naomi fill her with rage and sadness?

* * *

 **A/N: ***IF YOU SUFFER FROM OR KNOW OF ANYONE SUFFERING FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, PLEASE SEEK HELP OR URGE THEM TO SEEK HELP! Because no one, and I mean _NO ONE_ deserves to be abused in any way, shape or form. So please, remember that you are a beautiful person who deserve to live a life free of fear, yeah?*****

 **and another chapter down...what did you think? It was crappy wasn't it...**

 **i am currently working on the next two chaps of TBWITB and the next chap of YBHMHAA and the final chap of TNC( which I hope to post by the end of the weekend)...so yeah...there ya go;)**

 **review and let me know what you thought of this one,**

 **major love to you all!**

 **Marci**


	5. The Walls You Can't Knock Down

**A/N:** **And here we are again, my friends...sorry for the delays with my stories and with reading and reviewing all the other great work out there. (You know who you are)**

 **If any of you have decided to post to the fandom, and I haven't seen it and read it, I apologize. Send me a PM and let me know if you have a story that needs reading and I'll remedy that ASAP. Don't be shy, people...**

 **Also, huge shout out to my partner in crime, mswitsend :D If you haven't read her awesome story, Stonem House, then shame on you and fix that right away!**

 **Also, I want to shout out to TheAeacusProject, for being generally badass...you should definitely read The Ultimate Currency...actually read anything written by TAP, trust me you will not regret it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: The Walls You Can't Knock Down**

"This is Mandy Lawson, for BBC Entertainment News. We're talking with Emily and Katie Fitch of Fitch Construction, the new stars of the Stonem Group's newest reality show, Rebuilding London. Welcome, ladies."

The interviewer smiled and turned to Emily and Katie, who had been sitting for an hour waiting to do a five-minute interview.

"Thank you, Mandy." Katie replied, knowing that Emily would only speak if asked directly. "It's a pleasure to be here." She beamed a genuine smile, as she caught Effy smirking behind the reporter.

"So, your show, London Rebuild, tell us a little bit about that?"

"What we're looking to do is help families rebuild a home so that they can get back on their feet." Katie started explaining. "You see, Mandy, developers are closing estates down at an alarming rate, so that they can bring in bigger, money making, developments. Office buildings, storefronts and similar buildings. But they're displacing families and they're not even trying to help them find suitable housing."

Mandy nodded as she listened, glancing every so often at Emily who sat quietly next to her sister. "Right. Emily? Your CV is very extensive. You've traveled to foreign countries, building homes, schools and even a couple of hospitals and all before the age of twenty-five. That's very impressive, I must say. What's your feeling on this new project?"

Emily sat up a bit straighter, not really wanting to answer, but she knew she had to, so she took a moment to consider her answer. "It's a project that I can get behind fully, ya know? Our core value as a family," she gestured between herself and Katie, "has been about helping others. Especially helping people help themselves."

Mandy listened intently, smiling the whole time, and flicking her eyes behind Emily and Katie every so often and smiling, and it grated on Emily's nerves. "That's admirable, Emily." Mandy replied, earning a not so genuine smile from the younger twin. "Is there something you want to add?" She asked, looking behind the twins, where Naomi had been sitting silently, plucking at the bandage on her hand.

"Who, me?" The blonde asked startled, as the itch under the white gauze became more noticeable.

"Sure. Why not?" Mandy beamed a smile at her.

Naomi didn't like the look in the woman's eye, or the way she smiled her fake smile when talking to the twins. She had a feeling that the brunette was eyeing Emily up, and that pissed her off. The jealousy that ripped through her caught Naomi off guard.

But Emily didn't take the bait and chose to talk only when spoken to, basically ignoring the journalist. That's when she turned that mega-watt smile to Naomi.

"What do you think about the show?" Mandy prodded her for an answer, and Naomi caught Effy behind her, nodding her head, telling her to answer the question.

"I love it." Naomi said simply, feeling the need to slap herself for that inane answer. "I-I...w-what I meant was, I agree with Katie. I don't think it's fair when someone's been ousted from their home, all because some suited pr-, uh...gentleman...thinks a new ASDA should go there instead."

Mandy nodded her head the whole time Naomi spoke, smirking at the blonde's almost slip. "Right...and how do you feel about working with Katie and Emily? This isn't your normal kind of show, is it? Actually, the last programme you worked on was...," She looked through the notes, to make for sure she had her facts straight, "...Brighton Beauties, is that right?"

Naomi groaned loudly as the journalist brought up that fucking show. "That's right." She responded stiffly.

Mandy waited a few seconds for Naomi to elaborate, but got nothing in return, so she pushed on. "It's quite the change, isn't it? Going from a show with absolutely no substance to this?"

"Listen, Martha-,"

"It's Mandy, actually." She corrected, making sure to keep her smile in place.

"Right. As I was saying...," Naomi didn't catch the underlying hostility from the woman and just kept on going, "when you start out in this line of work, you basically get the shaft, don't you? You get handed what no one else wants, and you either do it or find a new line of work. It's just that simple. You do the best with the tools you've been handed. So what if Brighton Beauties was never going to win any awards? It was never about that, was it?"

Effy rolled her eyes because Naomi was on a tangent now, despite having been talked to about it.

"The thing is, _Mandy_ ," Naomi made sure to stress the correct name, oblivious to the blush forming on the journalist's face, "you take what you can get starting out, because that's how you learn your skill...your craft, so to speak. Granted, spending my time around girls too vapid, too...," she searched for the right words, "conceited...too up their own arses to even be human, was not what I had imagined doing when I went to four film schools, but I did the best with what I had. And this project? Yeah, I can stand behind this project because it means something, doesn't it? Giving back to someone who's had everything taken from them?"

Emily, Katie and Mandy could only stare in wonder as Naomi finished her rant. Katie was amazed that the blonde barely took a breath throughout that whole diatribe, Mandy briefly wondered if Naomi was that feisty in bed and Emily felt her heart speed up as she saw the same fire in her eyes as she did the night they had slept together because she was that feisty in bed.

Naomi felt herself blush as three sets of eyes bored into her, but despite her personal feelings for Emily, it was her brown eyes that was causing the most havoc with Naomi's emotions.

"Right! I think that wraps it up for today," Effy knew that Naomi was on the verge of snapping, so she decided to take control of the situation and get her girls out of there, "don't you, Mandy?"

The reporter had to drag her eyes away from Naomi, so turned on by the blonde that it wasn't even funny. "What? Oh...yeah, right. Thank you, ladies. I look forward to the show."

Katie and Emily stood, and Katie made sure to thank Mandy whilst Naomi headed over toward Effy and Emily followed quietly, with her eyes cast down.

"Well, that was impressive, Nai." Effy stated simply, quirking her eyebrow in a silent question.

Naomi shrugged. "I didn't like her attitude. She was fake...and bringing up that show?" She stated as if that made all the difference in the world.

"Alright, Naomi...let's not get a bad rap before we even air, yeah?" Effy said as Katie came over. "All set?"

"Yeah. We'd better get going because the guys are already at the house and Freddie's just texted to let me know that the family has arrived along with the camera crew." Katie told them, as she pulled a set of keys out of her purse.

"Great." Naomi stated in excitement. It had been a while since she'd seen Thomo and JJ and she was looking forward to seeing them. "And don't forget, I've got to leave around noon today, so I wanted to get the promos for the show done." She reminded Effy.

Emily's ears perked up at that but she couldn't bring herself to ask about it, so she stayed silent as they all piled into Effy's car and made their way to the first house on the list.

* * *

When they arrived, Emily thought it looked like a good old fashioned American block party was taking place, as her crew mingled with Naomi's crew. She found Cook and Freddie and went straight over to them, leaving Katie, Effy and Naomi behind.

"Alright, Emilio?" Cook grinned at her.

Emily nodded silently, too wound up after having spent so much time with Naomi to form any words.

"It's gonna be cool, Emsy." Freddie said quietly, wrapping an arm around his tiny friend.

Emily was about to respond when Naomi's voice cut over the noise.

"Alright, everyone...can I get your attention please?" Naomi waited until everyone quieted down before continuing. "Thank you. As you all know, scheduling for each episode is tight, yeah? I'd like to introduce you all to my camera crew. This is Thomas and JJ and you all know my assistant producer, Effy." She gave them all time to greet the newcomers before getting back to business. "If there are issues or concerns, please address myself or Effy and we'll take care of them. Okay, I'm turning things over to Katie and Emily Fitch, of Fitch Construction. Katie?"

"Thank you, Naomi. Emily and I, along with our whole crew, would like to thank The Stonem Group for giving us this opportunity, so thank you, Effy." Katie said, smirking at Naomi's refusal to talk directly to Emily, knowing that she was the head manager. "Emily is the manager of each project and I will be the design manager, so everything will go through us. Emily?"

Emily stepped over to Katie and forced a smile on her face. "Hello everyone." She addressed the crowd of people, trying her best to keep her eyes off Naomi. "I'm looking forward to getting started, so why don't we dig in, yeah?"

Emily and Katie were interviewed along with the first family on the list, the Mayhews. Tim, an out of work factory worker, his wife, Stella, who worked at a local market, their son, Andrew and their daughter, Ariel, both of whom attended the local college.

Tim had lost his job last year, when the factory he worked at closed its doors and he bounced from odd job to odd job, barely keeping his family afloat. Three months ago, tragedy struck when Tim was injured doing a job and without any compensation to help cover the costs of living, Tim and Stella lost their home.

Naomi was empathetic to the family's plight, and she smiled as Emily talked with Tim and Stella in a "get to know me" session that Naomi, JJ and Thomas were filming.

"What would this house mean for you guys, as a family?" Emily asked, getting to the heart of the conversation, and looked at Tim expectantly.

"This would mean a chance to get back a bit of dignity and peace of mind." He replied after a few minutes of thought. "A chance to be able make sure my wife and kids have a warm, dry place to sleep, ya know?"

Emily nodded along with him, as his wife teared up a bit. "Well, let's see what we can do about helping you achieve that, yeah?" She said, and Tim and Stella both smiled at her. "What we have here is a detached single family unit, built in the 60s, okay? The foundation is solid, as well as the outside framing, so we won't have to do a complete demo and rebuild."

Naomi knew she would have to bite the bullet and swallow her pride, to do her job, so with a deep breath, she prepared herself to talk to Emily for the first time since Bristol. "So, what exactly does that mean, Emily?"

"As you can see here," Emily pulled out the plans that she and Katie had drawn up, covering her shock and surprise with work, and explained, "the foundation and the outside are stone construction, bricks in this case, and they've surprisingly held up over the years, so the only thing we'll have to do there is make sure it's fortified. But the inside is where the real work is gonna happen." Emily felt a burst of confidence and smirked at Naomi. "Can you swing a sledgehammer? With your hand and all? I mean, the stitches come out soon, don't they?""

Naomi's heart beat violently at the adorableness of the redhead, emotions warring with her good sense, and she had to shake herself to answer as she thought of the night she broke the wine glass in her hand and the reason why. "Um...yeah?" She replied nervously, as JJ and Thomas chuckled next to her.

"Cook? Can you bring Naomi a sledgehammer, please?" She shouted over to her friend, keeping her eyes on the blonde. "She's gonna help with demo today."

Cook ran over with the tool and held it out proudly to Naomi, who stared in shock and wondered if she had to do this.

"It'll be mint, Naomikins! Just swing as hard as you can!" He told her with a cheeky grin.

Emily smiled as her crew and Naomi's chuckled at the horrified look on Naomi's face, but then sent her guys off and took everyone else inside.

"Alright, Tim? You want to start in here?" She pointed into the lounge, and started rapping her knuckles on the wall. "You're going start knocking out the walls here, in between the studs. Stella, you're going to help him pull the sheet rock off and bin it." She explained, pointing to the open window and the skip that sat outside. "Naomi, you'll be in here." Emily gestured toward the kitchen area.

"Thomo, you're with Tim and Stella. JJ, you're with Emily." Naomi said as she followed Emily into the small space, feeling closed in and a touch uncomfortable. "What am I meant to be doing?"

Emily could tell she was nervous, but didn't let on. "We're going to do the same in here." She indicated the wall that separated the two rooms. "It's not really that hard. I'll have you start on this side and I'll be over here," she nodded toward the other side of the kitchen.

Naomi looked at the wall in front of her and wondered if this was life's idea of a metaphor. "Alright, sounds simple enough." She replied as she hoisted the sledgehammer in her hands.

Emily scoffed. "You'd think that…," she said under her breath, but didn't elaborate. She took a maker out of her back pocket and placed a big X on the wall. "Start here, studs are roughly thirty and a half centimetres apart, so try not to take those out just yet." She went along, marking X's as she went. When she was done, Emily stood back and nodded to Naomi.

"Alright, so I swing as hard as I can, yeah?" Naomi contemplated the sledgehammer in her hands, feeling the weight of the tool against her stitches before bringing it back and then raising it above her, letting it smash into the wall.

It felt anticlimactic as Naomi stared at the four-inch hole with the head of the hammer still stuck in there. She didn't know exactly what to expect, but she had been hoping for more destruction. Behind her, JJ sniggered as she wrenched the hammer out of the wall.

"Oi! Watch it, Jay!" Naomi snapped playfully, before turning to look at Emily, as if asking " _what now?"_.

"Did you hurt your hand?" Emily asked, concerned.

Naomi shook her head. "No, but I thought it'd be more…," she trailed off, searching for the right word, "…I don't know, more…I thought there'd be more damage?"

"You figured the whole wall would crumble, yeah?" Emily replied, chuckling as Naomi nodded. "Well, unless you're a wrecking ball, that doesn't happen. What you wanna do is picture something or…someone you're angry with, like me," Emily muttered the last part under her breath, but Naomi heard it and felt a wave of sadness creep over her, "then swing. Channel that anger into your swing and please, don't hurt yourself, yeah?"

Naomi watched as Emily stepped away. ' _Alright, Campbell…channel your anger, easy enough_.' She thought to herself, as she remembered how angry she had been for the last month. But when it came down to it, that anger she had been bottling up toward Emily, suddenly deflated.

She had seen the way Emily had completely closed in, hiding that vibrant spark that Naomi was attracted to and it just didn't sit well with her. But she also couldn't forget the fact that Emily had had a girlfriend at the time they slept together, a girlfriend Emily wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon, despite what little info Effy had told her. And it's not even the fact that Emily did have a girlfriend, because that had never seemed to stop Naomi before. If a woman was willing, Naomi had always been able to help them relieve some tension, but Emily was different. And that scared Naomi more than she would ever admit to herself.

"C'mon, Naoms…try again." Emily, encouraged her quietly, ducking her head. "It's just repetitive, yeah?"

Naomi nodded and swung the sledgehammer again, close to the first hole and smiled as she noticed that more of the wall fell. Emily watched as Naomi got into the joy of demolition, but then realised that it actually hurt to stare too long at the blonde, so she turned her back to Naomi and started on her own wall.

An hour later, they had finished tearing down the kitchen walls, leaving behind the skeleton of the room, whilst Tim and Stella had finished most of the lounge. The blonde was sweating and Emily couldn't help but stare at the hair plastered against her forehead and the sides of her face. Naomi caught the redhead looking at her, but refused to say anything about it, didn't want to draw any attention to the tension between them.

"Nai, it's time for you to leave, yeah?" Effy broke the silence as she entered the kitchen, followed by Katie.

Naomi glanced at the watch on her wrist and cringed. "Fuck! I've gotta go."

"Take my car, yeah?" Effy threw her keys at the blonde, who smiled gratefully. "Go! We'll be fine."

"Thanks, Effs…I'll see you guys tomorrow." Naomi said as she rushed from the room, very aware of Emily's eyes tracking her every move.

After she left, Effy noticed that Emily looked lost. "Alright, let's get back to it." She smiled at the younger twin. Emily smiled back but it didn't reach her eyes.

 _'Probably meeting her girlfriend_.' Emily thought to herself bitterly, as she went back to work.

* * *

"Naomi! Over here, love!"

Naomi had heard her mum before she saw her and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry I'm late…traffic was bad." She explained as her mum reached in for a hug.

"That's alright, love," Gina assured her as she hugged her daughter, "I've not been here long, so no harm, yeah?"

Naomi sank into the hug, feeling safe in her mother's arms. "Jesus, I've missed you, Mum." She exclaimed, practically feeling the tension in her body dissipate. "How've you been holding up?"

Gina heard the sudden change in topic and chuckled. "You've got something on your mind." She stated plainly, pulling out of the embrace and staring intently at her daughter. When Naomi blushed, Gina knew she hit the nail on the head, but decided to let it pass for now. "I'm hungry…let me treat you to lunch?"

Naomi breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing that her mum would eventually wheedle out of her what was wrong, but she appreciated the fact that she let it go for the moment. "C'mon, Mum. I'll treat you to lunch, yeah? I know this great little café, serves the best sandwiches I've had since leaving New York."

Gina agreed and allowed Naomi to lead her out into the weak English sun, toward the parking lot, making small talk along the way. It was wonderful to sit and listen to Naomi's day to day life when they were seated at the café and had ordered, something she had missed immensely when she and Kieran lived in Ireland.

Gina smiled at the thought of her late husband, and felt relief when it didn't hurt.

"Mum, are you alright?" Naomi saw the wistful look and concern for her mother rushed through her.

Gina was brought back to the present and her smile widened. "I'm perfectly fine, love. Just thinking about your father."

"Oh, Mum…," Naomi reached over and grasped Gina's hand, "I know it's hard, but-,"

"It's not anymore, Naomi." Gina stated, gently squeezing Naomi's hand, noting the look of confusion on her daughter's face. "Hard, that is. Oh, I'm not saying that I don't miss him, I'll always miss him, but after all this time I've come to remember the good times we had. I remember the way he loved me, and you…," she trailed off with another smile, "you were his daughter, Naomi and he loved us with everything he had."

"I miss him." Naomi said sadly, still feeling the pang of intense loss.

"I know you do, love," Gina smiled at her, "but you can't focus on what you've lost. You must remember what you had and learn to move on. Kieran wouldn't want you to be sad, Naomi...you know that. He would tell you to quit your moping around and get on with life." Gina said in a perfect imitation of her late husband, causing Naomi to laugh.

"I know, I know…and you're right. And it doesn't hurt as much to remember him." Naomi told her mum as she took a bite of the sandwich that had been delivered to their table and remembered the conversation with Effy and Katie. "I just wish I'd had more time with him…it just feels like I missed so much whilst I was off at school." She looked out the window as she ate, deep in thought.

Gina watched the emotions dance across Naomi's face and waited patiently for her to say what was on her mind. She didn't have to wait long as Naomi turned back to her.

"Should I not have gone to the States? Maybe just gone to the school here in London?" She asked quietly, afraid she had wasted precious time that could have been spent with Kieran. "I didn't _need_ to go to those other schools…I could've-,"

"Don't be ridiculous, Naomi." Gina cut her off before she could work herself up. "Don't you know how proud he was of you?" She asked and sighed when Naomi shook her head. "My god, he…he bragged about you down the pub! He was always telling the lads about his daughter, the movie director!" Naomi felt tears down her face, but her mum kept going. "Beating yourself up about it isn't going to do you any good, love. Kieran wouldn't want that and neither do I, okay?"

Naomi looked like she was about to protest, but Gina smiled and gave her hand one last squeeze.

"Yeah…you're right, Mum." Naomi replied as she picked up her glass and went to take a drink.

"You know he tried to fix me up with one of his mates before he passed away." Gina stated out of the blue and Naomi almost choked on the liquid as she tried to swallow.

" _What?_ Why?"

Gina laughed at the look on Naomi's face, it was so comical that she couldn't help herself.

"Mother! That's not funny." Naomi glared at Gina as she wiped her face with her napkin. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Because it's the truth, dear." Gina told her as she continued eating. "You know…when you meet that one person who'll become your everything, become your whole world, you learn how to be a better person. You feel things on a deeper level, you learn to open yourself to another person, you hand your heart and soul over to them, trusting in them that they'll keep it safe.

When Kieran stormed into my life, I was still heartbroken over what your real father, the shitty prick had done, because I thought _he_ was the one to complete me, to make me happy, but we know how that turned out, don't we? You were only three at the time and I was devastated. Here I was, broke and jobless with a baby to take care of. How could I do that when I couldn't even take care of myself? Hmm?" Gina took a sip of water as she remembered those days when Naomi was little and that waste of space left them alone. "Kieran showed me that it was okay to trust him…it was okay to put myself first on occasion, because if I didn't, I would come to resent my life and everyone in it, you included. He made me believe in myself, to have confidence in who I was as a woman."

Naomi was confused as she digested her mother's words. "What does that have to do with Da trying to set you up?"

"He asked me not to wallow in misery after he was gone and he didn't want me to be alone for the rest of my life, ya know?" Gina explained, knowing that her daughter was reacting the same as she did when Kieran brought it up. "That's not to say I wasn't angry at the idea, because I was. I was also hurt and the thought of being with anyone besides your dad?" Gina shook her head as she remembered the feelings that thought had provoked. "Well, that was just unacceptable to me at the time, but after a few heartfelt conversations and a lot of pleading, Kieran finally declared his reasons why."

Naomi was honestly interested in what her mother was telling her and sat up in her chair, bringing her elbows to rest on the table and rested her chin on her hands. "And?" She asked as her mum took her time taking a bite of her sandwich and chewing slowly, as if to amp up Naomi's anticipation. When Gina merely smiled at her, Naomi rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Are you going to finish the story or not?" She asked, huffily, leaning back and crossing her arms in front of her.

"Patience, Naomi…it really does pay off, you know." Gina smirked at her daughter, never failing to find amusement at her expense . When Naomi sighed again, she decided to have a touch of mercy. "His greatest fear of dying was the thought of leaving me alone. I told him that I would never love anyone the way I loved him, and the bloody fool laughed at me. Kieran was a simple man, but he was also a closeted romantic."

Naomi felt tears sting her eyes at the thought of her dad and mum in their last days together, but she sniffed them back as her mum finished.

"He said to me, _'I know that, Gina, my love, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to love again. And I want you to promise, promise me with all your heart, that you'll at least try and find someone that makes you happy, because I won't be able to rest peacefully knowing that you are unhappy.'_ " Gina told Naomi what Kieran had asked of her, complete with his gruff Irish accent and Naomi laughed through the tears that had started to fall again.

"And did you promise him?" Naomi finally asked, astonished and charmed all at once and then when her mother confirmed that yes, she did promise him, she asked. "How could you promise that?"

Gina shrugged. "It's easy enough to promise the one person you love anything. That's not saying I'll find someone, it's not like I'm "on the pull"," Gina said, using her finger to make air quotes as she spoke and that brought out a real honest laugh from Naomi, "I'm not actively looking, and I told him that I wouldn't, but I did promise that I would be open to the idea of meeting someone new. That's all."

Naomi needed time to think about what her mother had sprung on her and the two of them sat in silence for a bit, eating and sipping their drinks and just sharing space together.

Gina felt as if it was time to shift the conversation to something happier. "So…today was the start of the new show, yes?" Naomi nodded after taking another bite of her sandwich, not wanting to be rude and talk with her mouth full and Gina appreciated the gesture. "Tell me all about it."

And that was it. Naomi and Gina spent the rest of the afternoon talking about Effy and the show and how excited Naomi was to finally work on a show that meant something. She answered her mum's questions, only hesitating slightly when asked about the twins, and found herself talking more about Katie than she did Emily, totally on purpose and missed the gleam in her mother's eye as she realised that fact.

When they finished up after copious amounts of tea, they made their way back to the car and headed toward Naomi's flat. It was decided that Gina would stay with Naomi until she found a place of her own, so when they arrived, Naomi took her mum's suitcases into the spare room.

"Here you go, Mum…," Naomi stated as Gina took a seat on the chair that had been placed in the corner of the room, next to the window, "bathroom is down the hall, towels and such are in the cupboard behind the door…do you want a cuppa?"

"Calm down, Nai…you're nervous about me being in your space, I get it."

Naomi's eyes widened. "No, no…that's not it, I just…," she stopped to gather her words together, "I want you to be comfortable here, Mum. It's a huge change for you and I'm trying to make it as easy as possible, that's all. I'm really happy that you're here."

Gina smiled at her daughter and stood up, taking the few steps needed to reach her and gave her another hug. "I'm really happy to be here, love. I've missed you so much."

Naomi smiled and deepened the hug. "So…tea?"

"Actually, I'm feeling tired. Would you mind terribly if I just…went to bed?"

"Not at all, Mum. I'll leave you to it." Naomi said as her mobile sounded, alerting her to a text. She pulled away from Gina to fish it out of her pocket and saw that it was from Effy.

"Anyone important?" Gina asked as she opened one of the suitcases and pulled out her toiletries.

"Effy…she wants me to come out with them tonight." Naomi said absently as she sent back a "thanks, but no thanks" text. "They're celebrating the first day and wants me to join them. It's no big deal, I'll see them tomorrow."

"Why don't you go with them?" Gina asked, eyeing her daughter critically, as she pulled out a pair of pyjamas and laid them out on the bed.

The question caught Naomi off guard, as she considered her answer. If she told her mum the truth, how she didn't want to spend any more time than was necessary with Emily, Gina would automatically know that that was a lie. Because the truth was, Naomi _did_ want to spend time with Emily. She couldn't help it, but she didn't want her mum, or anyone else for that matter, to know that.

Naomi shook her head. "It's fine, Mum. I just wanna make sure you settle in okay, not go traipsing all over the city, drinking my weight in alcohol, getting pissed."

Gina laughed loudly at that. "Since when?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow, rivalling her daughter, who rolled her eyes and laugh with her.

"Since now. It's fine, really…besides, if Elysse finds out I went out and didn't go out with her, she'd never forgive me." Naomi spoke before she thought, suddenly remembering that she hadn't told her mum about her girlfriend.

"Oh? Elysse? Girlfriend?" Gina pinned her daughter with a pointed look, and Naomi sighed, knowing there was going to be no way she would get away without telling her about her girlfriend. "Ya know what? A nice cuppa sounds brilliant, yeah? I'll be out shortly."

"Yes, Mother." Naomi replied grudgingly, as she trudged into the kitchen and put the kettle on. ' _This could be painful_.' She thought to herself, as she set out two mugs and grabbed the sugar. She could hear her mum walk down the hallway, just as she reached into the fridge for the milk she knew that her mum would want.

"Alright, my darling daughter," Gina smiled as she took a seat, reaching for the kettle as Naomi placed it on the table, "sit and start talking."

Naomi groaned out loud, but did as requested, fixing her own cup before she spent the rest of the night talking to her mum about her life at the moment.

Despite having to tell her mum about her girlfriend and having Gina ask questions, Naomi had enjoyed the time spent with her mum, telling her about Elysse, about the show and Katie and her crew. It was so different to when she had been a sullen, brooding and snarky teenager, intent on keeping her parents out of her business. This time, when Gina questioned anything, Naomi spoke freely and felt a lightness at being able to do so after years spent apart from her mum.

The only thing she kept to herself was her thoughts and feelings about Emily. Gina had tried a few times to get that info out of Naomi, but she knew when she was wasting her time, so she let it go for now.

A little while later, as Gina turn out the light by the bed and settled in for the night, she smiled, knowing that she made the right decision to come home. She had a feeling that Naomi was going to need her soon enough.

* * *

Emily danced to the music, letting the sound of the heavy bass float around her and not caring who she was dancing with and she hated it. Deep inside there was only one person that she wanted to be doing anything with, but because she was a coward, that was never going to be an option now.

Effy and Katie sat at a high table, so they could keep an eye on her and Emily knew that Cook and Freddie were close by, just in case anything happened and she hated that too. Hated the fact that she actually _needed_ someone to look after her.

' _Why can't you get a fucking grip, Fitch? You're twenty-seven years old, for fucks sake! Learn to fend for yourself!_ ' she thought bitterly as she caught sight of Katie keeping a close eye on her. She was trying to let the music sooth her, but thoughts of working so closely with Naomi earlier had really done in what little self-control she had.

As the song switch to something slower, Emily felt arms slip around her waist from behind, but whilst she was happy dancing with strangers, she wasn't about to let them touch her, so she pulled away and headed for the bar.

"S'cuse me." Emily muttered as she ran into a couple making out close to the bar. She didn't even bother to look up, just wanting to get another shot and a pint, so she continued moving ahead until she reached her destination.

Across the club, Effy and Katie watched Emily's progression to get more alcohol, when Effy stood up suddenly and glared.

"What's up, Effs?" Katie asked, concerned about Emily.

"I don't _fucking_ believe that fucking _bitch_!" Effy growled as she started to make her way to the bar, Katie quickly following in her wake. "I'll fucking kill her for this!"

Katie had never seen Effy like this in the short time she'd known her, but this couldn't be a good thing, as she watched Effy barge her way through the crowd of club-goers. When Effy stopped suddenly and forcefully spun someone around to face her, Katie gasped loudly.

"Having fun, are we?" Effy yelled as Elysse stared at her in shock. Katie glanced from Naomi's girlfriend to the short dark-haired girl that she had been snogging as if her life depended on it and knew this wouldn't end well.

"What are you doing here?" Elysse asked, glancing around, looking extremely guilty.

"She's not here you fucking cow!" Effy huffed, crossing her arms in front of her, adopting a bored expression, but feeling anything but. Anger. That's what she was feeling. So much anger as she watched the supposed girlfriend of her best friend make out with another girl.

Elysse was about to say something just as Emily walked up to see what was going on and that snapped the dark-haired girl out of the daze she had been in.

"Babes, are these friends of yours? I thought you said it was just gonna be you and me tonight?" she whined, causing Katie to smirk and Emily to look confused as Effy looked like she was about to blow.

"Emily, can you and Katie go tell the guys we're leaving?" Effy stated as calmly as she could, wanting to spare Naomi as much embarrassment as possible.

"Yeah, c'mon Emily." Katie said linking her arm through Emily's and they headed off to find Cook and Freddie.

Effy made sure they left before turning back to Elysse. "Enjoy your night because tomorrow, you and Naomi are done!"

"You can't do that!" Elysse protested.

Effy smiled evilly at the girl. "Watch me." She turned with every intention of leaving, but one thing was bugging her, so she turned back around and addressed the dark-haired girl. "How long have you been fucking her?" She asked her, jerking her head in Elysse's direction and watched as the small girl swallowed thickly.

"A-a-about s-s-six months."

Effy's eyes shot up to Elysse and sneered at her. "I fucking knew it!"

With that Effy turned on her heel and strode out of the club. She had half a mind to go round to Naomi's place now and tell her what she had just learned, but the sight of a heartbroken and drunk Emily was enough to just flag a cab and call it a night.

It would have to wait until tomorrow, till she could sit Naomi down and talk to her. Effy knew she was going to need the night to build up her defences for whatever Naomi would throw at her for being the messenger.

* * *

 **Alright, peeps! What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know, yeah? and if you don't feel like it, that's alright too!**

 **Loves and Hugs to all,**

 **Marci**


	6. A Little Complication

**A/N:** **Hello from the other side...I'm back...sorry sorry sorry from the bottom of my heart for how long it's taken to get this posted.**

 **To the guest reviewers, you know who you are, trust me when I say, that I will not give up on my stories. I know its takes longer than most to post, but I am working on them every day, ask MsWitsEnd...she will tell you ;D**

 **Anyhow...on to why we're here, right? Right!**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Skins...**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: A Little Complication**

"Naomi, we need to talk."

It had been a couple of days before Effy could pin down her best friend for a chat, since whenever Naomi wasn't at the construction site, she was in the editing suite. As it was, Effy had to stalk the editing floor so she could catch Naomi.

"I don't have the time, Effs. I've got editing to do and then I've got to meet with Elysse for lunch." Naomi replied as she shouldered her way into the darkened editing room, carefully balancing her laptop and work bag along with a tray full of coffees.

Effy grimaced at the mention of Elysse. "It's important, Nai."

Naomi stopped just inside the door and turned toward Effy. "Does it have anything to do with the show? Has someone gotten hurt?" She asked point blank.

"No. It's about Elysse." Effy responded just as pointedly, ignoring the glare from Naomi.

"Jesus, not this again, Effy," Naomi growled out as she set her stuff on the table just inside the room. "You've made it clear as crystal that you can't stand my girlfriend, so what more could you possibly say?"

Effy sighed deeply as she slumped into one of the plush chairs around the table. She really had not be looking forward to this conversation, but she'd be fucked if she was going to let her best friend get hurt, so she took a deep breath and prepared to tell Naomi.

"She's cheating on you…or rather, she's cheating on her girlfriend…with you…it's a little confusing, the details are still a bit fuzzy." Effy stated, face as straight as could be, as she gauged the emotions running over Naomi's.

"Bullshit!" Naomi exclaimed, feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, because as much as Effy hated Elysse, she would never lie just to break them up. They had been friends for a long time and whilst they didn't always agree on everything, they had no problem with telling each other the truth. "What do you know?" Naomi asked, feeling herself deflate as she sat down for Effy's revelation.

Effy told her about running into the two women in the club and how she had confronted Elysse, talking to the girlfriend and finding out that she had been with Elysse for a while before Naomi had even entered the picture. It wasn't easy for the brunette at all, but it was something that had to be done, as she watched Naomi's face fall with every word.

"I'm sorry, Nai…I really am, and you know I'd never say this to hurt you." Effy said with a sigh as she finished.

Naomi tried to swallow back the lump that had formed in her throat. "I know, Effs…it's just…I wanted this to work, ya know?"

Effy hesitated for a split second, debating on whether to say what she thought or not, but then she remembered that this was Naomi and they had never hesitated with each other before. "I think you wanted it to work because of what happened with Emily-," Naomi groaned loudly, interrupting her and the blonde was about to deny it, but Effy quickly continued, "now hear me out, Nai!"

Naomi rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her, as if she was trying to protect herself from whatever Effy might say, but she nodded curtly. "Fine, go on."

Effy took a deep breath to centre her thoughts. "Naomi, we've known each for a long, _long_ time, yeah? And I'm not judging you, but I've seen you with your fair share of girls…one night stands, quickies in filthy club toilets, a few times I've caught you and some random up against an alley wall getting down and dirty," Effy smirked as she saw the sheepish look on her friend's face, "but something changed that night when you and Emily slept together and you know it. You wanted to see her again and Naomi, that had never happened before. So why don't we call this what it really is, yeah?"

"And _what_ is it?"

Effy could only shake her head, because if there was one thing that Naomi was good at, it was denial. "Nai, you told me how much you liked Emily, how you felt something with her, you can't say that you didn't," she paused to see if the blonde would deny it, but when Naomi's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, Effy knew that she almost had her convinced, "and you latched onto Elysse in a moment of insecurity after seeing Emily with her girlfriend in Bristol. But this isn't you, Nai…she's not right for you and you know that, I _know_ that you know that. Elysse is not good enough for you and I don't think she's the one for you."

Naomi considered Effy's words, thinking how she was right, as usual. "But I wanted her to be."

"No, Nai…you want _Emily_ to be the one." Effy told her with a sad smile. After all, she knew the truth behind Emily's relationship. Naomi didn't and until she did, it was only going to cause friction between the two women. But it wasn't Effy's place to tell her, it was Emily's.

Naomi couldn't help the tears that started to fall. Effy wrapped her arms around her and held her whilst she cried. Thankfully, they were still alone in the editing suite, so Effy let Naomi cry herself dry.

* * *

Naomi did her best to get her mind on work after Effy left her alone with her thoughts. She knew deep down that Effy was right, but that didn't make anything any easier. She had decided to keep the lunch date with Elysse and ask her about the other girl, so when she was finished editing for the day, she gathered her stuff and headed out of the studio.

She walked along the pavement, keeping her head down and letting her mind run off on its own. Yes, she was very attracted to Emily. Naomi couldn't help that, she was only human after all, but that didn't change the fact that Emily had cheated on her girlfriend with _her,_ and for some reason, that just wasn't sitting well with Naomi. And it rankled, it really did, the fact that Emily's girlfriend would be arriving in London soon, but there was nothing that she could do about that.

' _Nope! Not going there, Nai!_ ' She thought to herself, because knew she was going to have a hard enough time dealing with Elysse without having to add Emily's _girlfriend_ into the mix.

So lost in thought, Naomi was, that she didn't hear her name being shouted out until she had reached the café where she was to meet with Elysse.

"You're late!" Elysse admonished her as she wrapped the blonde into a hug, ignoring the way that Naomi stiffened at the touch. "I've been texting you for the past half hour, baby. Where've you been?"

Naomi pulled herself from Elysse's grasp and sent her a tight-lipped smile. "Working." She responded dully as she reached the door, opened it and stepped inside, not even bothering to see if the other girl was following, as she found a table and sat down.

Elysse felt her heart speed up as she finally twigged to Naomi's distant behaviour. "Is something wrong, baby?" She asked as she take a seat across from Naomi.

"Do you remember my name?" Naomi asked abruptly, just as the waitress stepped over to take their order, not even caring that the young girl gave them both an embarrassed look.

Elysse laughed nervously as the waitress said muttered about coming back and tried to wipe the guilty look off her face. "What kind of question is that?" She asked, trying to sound angry.

Naomi cocked her head and studied the girl before her. "It's a legitimate question, Elysse, because you haven't actually called me by my name in weeks…," she trailed off as if she was deep in thought, causing Elysse to squirm in her seat, "so I'm wondering if you've forgotten it or if it's to make sure that you don't use the wrong name?"

"How can you even ask me that? Don't you trust me?" Elysse knew that Effy had told Naomi about her other girlfriend, but she so desperately wanted to keep ahold of Naomi, because Naomi was going places in life. She had goals and was on the verge of becoming the next big thing in entertainment. " _Naomi_ …baby," Elysse made sure to emphasis her name, " listen…I don't know what's gotten into you, but-,"

"Enough, Elysse…," Naomi cut her off mid-plea, sick that she had given weeks of her life and her body to the woman sitting in front of her, "I'm done. We're over, as of now, because you know what? I deserve better than a lying slag!"

"How dare you-,"

"Did you honestly think that Effy wouldn't tell me?" Naomi cut her off again, as she stood up. "How did you expect me not to find out eventually? You know what, never mind…I'm late for work." Naomi walked away, confused about what she was feeling.

"This is because of her, isn't it?" Elysse wasn't about to let go without a fight, and so she stood up and followed Naomi out of the café. She smirked as she watched the blonde stiffen up. "You think I don't know about your fascination with the little redhead… Emily, is it? You must have thought I was such an idiot."

"What are you on about?" Naomi asked incredulously, rolling her eyes at the thought that Elysse could know.

Elysse started laughing then, a deep laugh that brought tears to her eyes. "You think I'm so stupid that I wouldn't notice how you watch her? It's true," she went on as Naomi tried to deny it, "and let's not forget how vocal you are about her!"

"I can't stand her!"

Elysse shook her head and sneered. "What's that saying about protesting too much? I mean, let's face it, Nai, you're a shit actress. So, you can stand there and pretend all you want, but you're not fooling anyone."

"Whatever." Naomi scoffed and turned to leave, but Elysse had one more dig up her sleeve.

"You know what the biggest clue is, _baby_?" Elysse called out, the sarcasm dripping of the last word. "I've seen her t-shirt that you keep hidden away in your dresser drawer." That effectively stopped Naomi in her tracks, causing the other girl to smirk in triumph. "Have you even washed that thing? Or do you pathetically pull it out and smell it, like a fucking loser stalker?"

"You went through my _things_?" Naomi roared, rage ripping through her at the thought of anyone else touching that hidden treasure. She took a few steps and got right in Elysse's face. "Who gave you the right to go through my shit?"

"I was your fucking girlfriend, _that_ gave me the right!" Elysse shouted back as her eyes blazed with anger. "It's a good thing I found it too, it was really stinking up the drawer." She stated and watched the colour drain from Naomi's face.

"What did you do, Elysse?" Naomi asked as dread filled her, because whilst she hadn't pulled it out in a week or two, she had been oddly comforted knowing that the shirt was there.

Elysse threw her a sneer and turned. "Run along, _baby_. We're over, so I really don't have to tell you fuck all anymore, not that I really did in the first place!" She spat back over her shoulder as she sauntered away.

Naomi glared at Elysse, until she turned a corner and was out of sight, but the urge to run home was extremely strong but she was due at the site in thirty minutes and she didn't want to be late.

"Fuck!" She muttered under her breath, making the decision to head over to the site. Naomi hoped that Emily's T-shirt was where she left it as she made her way back to the studio to get her car. "This is gonna be a long afternoon."

* * *

Emily was working on autopilot, dreading the end of the week. She had been able to put Georgina off for as long as she could, but the other woman was overly insistent on coming to London and Emily just didn't have the strength to fight with her about it. The whole thing had started a major row between her and Georgie, and then again with her and Katie, ending up with both Freddie and Cook being disappointed, but fuck it! She couldn't please everyone.

"Miss Fitch," she was interrupted from her thoughts by a production hand, "I've got a delivery around the front, they need a signature and the other Miss Fitch left a bit ago."

"Fucking typical!" Emily muttered under her breath, as she followed the young kid.

It never failed, whenever there was major work to be done, Katie always seemed to disappear, Emily thought bitterly as she signed the receipt and instructed the guy where to unload. There was no sign of Naomi, and Effy had seemed to be hiding as well. The two constant reminders that she was actually on a television show had been JJ and Thomo.

"Emily, I got you a sandwich." JJ spoke as he came up behind her, making her jump.

"Fucking hell, Jay!"

JJ giggled, actually giggled, as he blushed. "Sorry, I thought you heard me." He handed her a bag, containing the offered sandwich, knowing that if left on her own, Emily wouldn't eat at all. "Here, there's crisps in there, as well as a chocolate biscuit."

Emily waited until her heart rate slowed down and then took the bag. "Thanks, JJ."

She smiled the first real smile of the day as she studied the young man next to her as they sat on a pile of lumber. She liked JJ. She felt oddly comforted in his presence, and in doing so, she had opened up a little with him after he had explained to her about his Asperger's. They had formed a friendship since the beginning of the shoot and Emily cherished it.

The two of them sat and ate and went over plans for the show, when they heard a screech from the front of the house, followed by the slamming of a car door. Emily gave a JJ a look and he merely shrugged in response, but then they heard Naomi barking orders to her crew and JJ watched as Emily shrank in fear.

"What the actual fuck! Is everyone slagging off work today?"

JJ scooted closer to Emily, as Naomi's question echoed in the garden, and tried to lessen the sting. "Calm down, Nai," JJ said nonchalantly, used to dealing with Naomi when she's in a mood, "We've taken lunch, yeah?"

When JJ first started working for the Stonem Group, and especially with Naomi, he was a very skittish young man. Having dealt with Asperger's and a horrible case of social anxiety during his teenage years had made him that way. But Naomi had helped draw him out of his shell, teaching him how to have the confidence he needed to have in order to work with her, and letting him know that is was okay, encouraged in fact, for him to speak his mind. And he could always spot someone with anxiety, and he spotted it now in Emily as she continued to shake next to him.

Naomi seemed to accept what JJ had said, but the glare intensified as blue eyes stared at Emily. "Where the fuck is everyone else? Don't we have a schedule to stick to?" She snapped, but immediately felt a little guilty as Emily seemed to shrink further down, as if she was trying to roll herself into a ball to hide, but she didn't have the energy to stop herself. She was too angry at Elysse and too worried about a fucking shirt to care that she was scaring the piss out of one of the stars of the show.

"Nai, relax…it's almost time for everyone to head back, we'll still be on schedule and then we'll go home when we're done, yeah?" JJ smirked at her, knowing exactly how to keep her grounded when she was about to blow.

' _Leave it to JJ to defuse the situation!_ ' Naomi thought as he smiled at her.

"Fine! Whatever…," Naomi stated like a petulant child, "how have things been going so far, Emily?"

Emily's eyes snapped up and locked onto blue ones that seemed to be boring into her and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "Um…yeah…it's, uh…yeah, it's good. We're right on track to complete this weekend." She stammered out and internally cursed herself, because she felt herself blush.

Naomi narrowed her gaze, trying to decipher the tone, but knew she couldn't mentally deal with figuring Emily out now. Dealing with Elysse had brought up feelings and thoughts Naomi knew she needed to keep locked down.

"Okay, that's great." Naomi responded as she dug through her rucksack, digging out her calendar, making notes. "That means we start the next house on Monday…," she trailed off deep in thought as the idea that had been floating through her mind since her mum came home. "Emily, are you and Katie available this evening for a meeting? There's something I want to discuss with you guys and Effy, so I'm thinking drinks and dinner?"

Emily blinked rapidly, taken back by the question, shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we're both free. What time?" She asked quietly.

"I'm thinking right after we're done here for the day? We can head over after work, yeah?" Naomi told her, distracted by her thoughts and the schedule in front of her.

Emily agreed with a shy smile and JJ winked at her as they went back to eating their sandwiches, whilst Naomi headed off to do whatever she did during scheduled downtime. After another twenty minutes, Katie and Cook strolled back, followed by Freddie, Thomo and Effy.

* * *

They worked for another six hours, and Emily felt a certain sense of pride at the work they were doing. When they finished for the evening, Emily told Katie about the meeting that Naomi wanted and so they followed her and Effy across town to a small café, that sat back out of the way and as Emily glanced into the window, it looked deserted, except for an older woman sitting at a table alone.

When the bell above the door rang, the older woman looked up and smiled. "Effy, my love!"

Effy looked surprised, which was odd. Effy didn't do surprised. She only did mysterious and that was usually enough to throw anyone off balance. But seeing the shock on her face caused Katie and Emily to exchange confused glances

"Gina! Oh, my god, I've missed you!" Effy ran into the woman's outstretched arms and hugged her.

"And I've missed you too."

Effy pulled away from Gina and tried to compose herself, but knew it was no use when she saw Naomi, Katie and Emily smirking at her. "What are you doing here?" She asked the older woman, but glanced back at Naomi for the answer.

"That's what I wanted to talk to guys about." Naomi said from behind them. "Katie, Emily…this is my mum, Gina. Mum, Katie and Emily Fitch." She smiled as she made the introductions.

"It's an absolute pleasure to meet the both of you. Naomi's told me so much about you and the show." Gina beamed at the girls, very aware of the blush spreading across her daughter's face. "Shall we sit?" She gestured to the table behind her.

They took a seat and ordered a round of drinks when the young waiter came and waited to be served before Naomi started.

"So, what did you want to discuss, Naomi?" Katie finally asked, bringing Effy and Gina's quiet conversation to a halt and all at once, Naomi was in the spotlight.

"So, you know how Emily oversees the project and Katie, you're in charge of design, but you don't have anyone to help with that?" Naomi rushed the words out, nervous that Katie will shoot down her idea.

Katie narrowed her gaze before answering skeptically, unsure of where Naomi was going with this. "Yeah, so?" She responded as she took a sip of her drink.

Naomi squirmed. "What I mean is, Emily has Cook and Freddie, but you are basically working alone, yeah?" she quickly clarified, earning a nod from the older twin. "Well, I was thinking that you could hire my mum. She would be an incredible asset to you, I think."

Gina chuckled, as the twins looked back and forth between each other and Naomi, as if they weren't entirely sure that they'd heard correctly. "Naomi doesn't want me moping around her flat, do ya, love?"

The blush came back, as embarrassment flooded through her. "That's not quite true, Mum." Naomi insisted. "I may have overheard you talking to Aunt Maureen the other night on the phone, telling her how you didn't want to be a burden on me. I figured that this would be a perfect solution."

Effy giggled at the way Naomi seemed to morph into a petulant child, which sent Emily and Katie into their own giggles. Gina smiled and winked at them before turning to Naomi. "Eavesdropped sounds like it, but true," Gina stated with affection, "I do feel like a burden, but only occasionally." She said, before looking back to Katie. "I have experience as a personal assistant. I worked for a properties management company until my late husband and I moved to Ireland."

"I don't know...," Katie said quietly, thinking about it, "I've always worked by myself."

"Think about it, Kay? This is a much bigger project than you're used to." Effy pointed out and Katie nodded her agreement.

The waiter walked back over to take their food order and the topic was paused whilst they all scanned their menus. Once they finished ordering, Katie got back to the topic at hand.

"It would help me, having an assistant." She commented, thinking about it.

Emily spoke up for the first time since they sat down. "I don't know, Kay...," She drew everyone's attention, before quickly continuing, "what I mean is, Katie can be quite stroppy at times and almost certainly a little madam." She finished with a giggle as she saw Katie blush.

"Shut up, Emily!" Katie muttered, as Effy and Naomi smirked at each other. "That's so not true!" Katie assured everyone.

Gina chuckled, as the sisters bickered back and forth, sighing deeply over the missed opportunity to give Naomi a sibling. "Oh, trust me...," She said loud enough to get everyone's attention, "I've dealt with Naomi as a teenager, so I think I can handle anything Katie might throw at me." The table exploded with giggles as the waiter started bringing their food round and they decided to wait until after eating to continue the discussion.

For the next few hours, Gina was charmed by Emily and Katie, and she learnt about the family business, about Cook and Freddie and their dad. And though neither Katie nor Emily said anything, Gina gleaned a bit of information about their mother. She had to admit that she was very impressed by the twins as she heard about all the charity work they'd done and managed to go to Uni as well. Gina also noticed the way her daughter would steal glances at the redhead, and when she thought no one was looking, Emily would do the same, but neither of them would so much as speak to the other, and the underlying tension was noticeable to everyone else at the table.

' _This should prove to be very interesting._ ' Gina thought to herself, as she sipped her tea and watched them closely.

When they were finished, Naomi cleared her throat. "What do you think, Katie?"

Katie heard the apprehension in Naomi's voice and gave it a final thought, before answering. "Well, it would be a huge help, because let's face it, this is a much bigger project than I'm used to, so...why not." Katie stated smiling at Gina and Naomi, but then turned serious again. "I will say this now, I swear...a lot! I don't want you to be offended."

Gina laughed out loud at that. "Love, have you been around Naomi and Effy? If you have, I'm sure you know that they both have a mouth like an old salty sea dog on a two day leave in a Parisian brothel! I'm sure I can handle whatever profanities you might come up with!" She stated through her laughter as tears of merriment rolled down her face. Naomi's face turned red as Emily, Katie and Effy joined in the laughter.

"My mum, ladies...I'm so proud of her!" Naomi muttered in embarrassment. She looked at Katie and Emily. "Don't you wish you had a mum like her?" Gina laughed harder and neither her nor Naomi saw the look of sadness that passed between the twins.

But Effy saw it and a felt pang of regret that they didn't have a mother like Gina. It's not something that either of them talked about much, but Katie did tell Effy one night whilst they were having a couple drinks after work. But she was almost certain that Naomi knew nothing about them losing their mum at an early age, so she decided to try and lighten the mood.

She signaled for the bill and smiled at the rest of them. "Alright, we're going dancing!" Effy stated, smirking at them.

"You girls go ahead." Gina said, grabbing her purse and jacket. "I've got a date with the telly and no desire to dance. But you go and have fun." She slipped her jacket on and turned to Naomi who stood up with her. "I'll see you tomorrow, love."

Naomi walked Gina out, as the others gathered their things and wished her a good night, then watched as her mum walked down the street. She was lost in thought until she heard Effy behind her.

"Alright, let's do this!" Effy smirked. "Naomi's got some celebrating to do, don't ya, Nai?"

Naomi's face turned a shade of pink, as she glared at her best friend. "Shut up, Effs!" She grumbled as Katie and Emily watched, confused.

Effy laughed as she looped her arm through Katie's. "C'mon, Nai...it's not every day you break up with the biggest slag in all of London!" She clarified for the twins as Katie sniggered and Emily gasped quietly. "We need to mark the occasion and I think dancing and drinks fits the bill!" Her and Katie started walking, leaving Naomi and Emily standing there in front of the café.

After a few tense seconds, Emily cleared her throat and tried to calm her racing heart. "I'm sorry about your girlfriend." She said quietly, seeming to shrink into herself under Naomi's icy stare.

Naomi sighed loudly as the quick burst of anger toward Emily faded. "Don't be." She stated dryly. "It was bound to happen, wasn't it?" She asked rhetorically, as she watched Katie and Effy turn the corner. "C'mon, let's go. I could use a drink."

Emily merely nodded and followed the taller girl as she started walking in the same direction as the other two. She pushed down her emotions as fear and excitement warred with each other over the knowledge that Naomi was now single.

' _Not that it matters, you dozy cow!_ ' The small voice in her head shouted at Emily. ' _Naomi's single, but you are not!_ '

Emily's shoulders fell as she now had to deal with the rushing sadness of the truth, as Georgia's visit loomed over her head like a dark cloud of doom.

* * *

The bass of the music could be felt as the girls took up space on the dance floor, claiming it as their own. Effy and Katie drew attention to themselves as they danced, grinding against each other, much to the delight of the male population inside the club. Naomi watched in fascination as a couple of the braver ones worked their way over to them, and then laughed as the girls broke apart and danced away with the guys. It never failed to amaze Naomi the power that Effy had over the men of the world, and it looked as if Katie had almost the same effect.

She shook her head as she turned, hoping to find Emily standing there, but was disappointed when she found herself alone on the dance floor. Naomi sighed and decided that another drink was in order, so she headed toward the bar, intent on getting another pint and a couple of shots. While she waited for the bartender to bring her order, a flash of red caught her attention and she turned to find Emily standing against the back wall, hair plastered to her face, taking deep breaths and sipping from a bottle of water.

Naomi was staggered by the sheer beauty of the younger twin, as the strobe lights shot random bursts of light across her face and Naomi realised that the anger she had been carrying around with her for the past month was pointless.

She wanted Emily. Plain and simple.

And that revelation rocked Naomi to her very core as she felt a pleasant tingle shoot throughout her body. She was brought out of her thoughts as the bartender placed her order in front of her. Naomi thanked him, picking up the first shot and watched Emily over the rim as she necked it, followed closely by the second shot, before picking up her pint, intent on taking it back to their table. But the look on Emily's face stopped her in her tracks.

The redhead looked broken. It was a look Naomi had never noticed before, but that wasn't saying a lot. She didn't have the best track record for being intuitive when it came to emotions, but it was clear to her just then. Emily was in pain and that made Naomi's heart hurt. She wanted to wipe that pain away, somehow, but she stood still, frozen in indecision as she continued to stare at Emily across the club.

Naomi didn't know how long she had been standing there, but she knew when Emily started staring back. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as Emily's gaze felt like a caress. When the twin pushed herself away from the wall, Naomi thought for sure that she would come to her, but she didn't.

Emily shook her head and turned into the crowd, causing Naomi to lose sight of her and she panicked. She quickly drank her pint, setting the empty glass on the tray of a passing waitress, and she took off in pursuit of Emily.

It took her roughly thirty minutes to search the club, and she came up empty. Naomi even stepped outside and checked the smoking area, hoping that Emily would be there, but she found nothing.

She took a minute to gather her thoughts, pulling out her pack of cigarettes and quickly lighting up and inhaling deeply, feeling the rush of nicotine but her system.

"Where the fuck could she be?" Naomi asked herself, trying to remember if she checked everywhere inside. She was halfway through her smoke when she realised she hadn't checked the loo.

She quickly took one last hit and threw the butt away as she turned to head back inside, carefully keeping her eyes open as she walked through the club toward the bathrooms. She stood in line, thankfully it was short, and waited impatiently.

* * *

' _I'm such a loser._ ' Emily berated herself as she sat in the dingy cubicle, feeling pathetic.

She had to get away from the piercing gaze of Naomi, so she had been hiding for almost an hour in the loo, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill at any moment. It had been getting harder to control herself around the blonde the longer the night wore on and the more she drank.

Emily had been fighting the urge to just touch Naomi, as memories of their night together rushed through her mind, but that little voice inside her head kept telling her that Naomi was dangerous for about a million reasons. And then there was the added complication of Georgina, who would most likely be showing up tomorrow.

"Hurry the fuck up in there!"

Emily heard an angry voice shout, but she didn't budge. There were five other cubicles in the room. "Fuck off!" She responded back, growling the words, which caused the unknown girl to slap the door and stalk off.

She debated leaving the club altogether, but she knew that Katie wasn't quite ready to leave yet and if she took off, her sister would worry and possibly tell their dad that Emily wasn't doing okay. And she did not want that. It was bad enough that he had seem to be hovering after the hand incident, even though she told him that she was fine. No, Emily did not want to give him anything else to worry about.

Emily heard the rush of sound from the club, indicating that someone had either come in or left the bathroom, and then there was silence, which was odd. She was about to get up and leave when she heard footsteps head toward her cubicle and she braced herself for another shout, but all she got was a quiet tapping on the door.

"Someone's in here."

"Ems...open the door, please?"

Naomi's voice floated through the room, causing Emily to panic even more. "I can't."

Naomi heard the apprehension in Emily's voice. "Ems, please? We need to talk." She stated gently, not wanting to spook the girl any more than she already seemed to be.

Emily gave it a few minutes, debating her options, but realised that Naomi was right.

The click of the lock was loud in the quiet room, as Emily unlocked the door and opened it to find Naomi leaning against the wall, arms folded in front of her, eyes blazing, but without the usual anger that had been a constant for the past few weeks. That alone caused Emily to blink as she tried, and failed, to decipher the look.

"Where'd did everyone go?" Emily asked, as she noticed it was only her and Naomi.

Naomi smirked as she shrugged her shoulder, then cocked her head to side. "I kicked them out." She stated simply, as if it was no big deal. "There's another restroom on the other side of the club, so fuck 'em."

Emily almost chuckled but caught herself as she remembered their situation. "Look, Naomi...I've been doing what you asked, yeah? I've been giving you space, alright?" She said as she kept her gaze down, not meeting those hypnotic eyes. "I fucked up, I know I did, and I'm sorry."

"I don't want your apologies, Emily." Naomi replied, harsher than she meant to, but she couldn't take it back.

Emily's head snapped up and her brown eyes locked onto Naomi's. "What _do_ you want from me?" Emily pleaded, the tears she'd been holding back, finally coming to the surface. "If you could let me know what you want, that would be helpful. Because I can't even begin to fathom what to do...I can't handle...I'm not able to deal with t-this!"

Naomi stared in fascination, as Emily became passionate for the first time since that weekend in Bristol. "I want to know who you are."

Emily looked confused. "Why? You hate me, Naoms! Why do you want to _"know who I am"_?" She asked exasperated, making air quotes with her fingers. "You've made it clear that you want nothing to do with me other than the work we do on the show, so I've respected that!"

Naomi took a moment to think over what Emily had said, and she was right. She had behaved like a bitch toward the younger twin, but was now the time to tell her the truth?

"I don't hate you, Emily," she replied, smiling as Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes, but Naomi continued, "I'll admit I was angry, very angry in fact, because for the first time in my life, I met this amazing, beautiful woman, who was intelligent, funny and simply sexy...someone who I could see myself spending more than a few hours with...," Naomi blushed with that admission, as Emily's eyes widened in surprise, "only to find out, that after spending an incredible night with this person, she had a girlfriend...which, normally wouldn't matter, because it's not like I have the cleanest history, but it did matter. It mattered more than I'd like to admit."

Emily had to sit back down at this sudden turn of events. She was honestly floored by what Naomi was saying to her and she was having a tough time processing it. She was on the verge of an emotional breakdown, but she needed to find out exactly what Naomi was thinking.

"What are saying, Naomi?" Emily asked as she stood up, shaking her head as if she could clear up her thoughts that way.

Naomi took a small step toward Emily. "I'm not sorry about Elysse," and then quickly clarified when she saw hurt flash through Emily's eyes, "about breaking up with her, I mean. I knew that it was never going to last, but then again, I wasn't looking for that with her, no matter how much I was trying to fool myself into thinking otherwise. She was a distraction from the hurt and anger I was feeling...I slept with her to spite you for having that kind of hold on me."

Emily stood up at Naomi's explanation. "So, it's _my_ fault you ended up with her?" Anger was pushing its way to the front of Emily's emotions.

Naomi smirked at her. "In a way, yes."

"How _dare_ you?" Emily refused to be Naomi's scapegoat, and got right in the blonde's face.

"There's the Emily I met two months ago." Naomi stated with a wide smile, excited to see the ballsy Emily she slept with. "I've been wondering where she had disappeared to."

Emily's anger drained out of her, suddenly tired. "What do you want from me, Naomi?" She pleaded with the blonde again, weary of a confrontation, but knowing she would be unable to avoid one if it occurred. "Seriously, what _do_ you _want_?"

"I want you, Ems."

Naomi couldn't hold herself back any longer and took hold of Emily, spinning her around so the redhead was pinned against the wall and fused their lips together. She felt the need to stake her claim on Emily and in that moment, she didn't give a fuck if someone else was there first.

Emily gasped into Naomi's mouth, shocked that she had made a move after weeks of being shut out, but the surprise didn't last long as Emily started to kiss back.

It was an attack of tongues and lips as each of them tried to gain control. As Naomi palmed her right breast, Emily reached up and tangled her fingers into blonde hair, reveling in the feelings that washed over her as Naomi's leg slide between her legs coming into contact with her aching centre. Naomi moaned as Emily started to grind herself against on her leg and she wrapped her arm around the red head to pull her closer.

The need for oxygen was real and they pulled away from each other reluctantly, keeping their eyes locked on each other.

"F _uuuuck_...," Emily moaned, the huskiness of her voice causing ripples of pleasure to burst in Naomi's stomach and spread throughout her whole body.

Naomi couldn't wait any longer. It had been far too long since she'd had the taste of Emily on her tongue, and the memory wasn't enough anymore. As she knelt in front of the redhead, her intention was to remedy that as soon as possible as she reached for the button on Emily's jeans, but was interrupted by a loud pounding on the main door, followed by a man's voice.

" _WHO'S IN THERE!_ " A brief pause and then, " _I'M COMING IN!_ "

Naomi's hands froze, as Emily's fingers dug into her shoulders, as they heard the lock clicking on the door and the rush of noise from the club, breaking their little bubble. Naomi scrambled to her feet, frustrated at the disruption, but pushed it down when she saw the look of pure fear on Emily's face.

She reached out, taking Emily's face in her hands, gently stroking her cheeks with her thumbs. "It's alright, Ems." Naomi whispered into Emily's ear, before placing a soft kiss on her lips. "We probably shouldn't be doing this here, now, anyway, but I was serious...," she trailed off as her words sunk in, by the brief flash of hope she saw flare into Emily's eyes, "I want you, yeah? And I'm sure it's safe to say that want me, even if just little bit, so how about we take it a step at a time?"

Emily was so confused at the moment. After weeks of glares and sneers and silence, this complete turnaround from the blonde was doing her head in. Was this some sort of joke? Was this Naomi's way of getting back her? Emily felt her heart pound and her stomach drop, as the thought that Naomi was just that cruel entered her mind, and she knew that she had to protect herself.

She was about to respond to Naomi, but couldn't as the man finally worked his way to the cubicle they were in and started knocking insistently.

"Alright, alright! Hold on to your vagina!" Naomi snapped at him and gave one last look to make sure they were both presentable, before unlocking the door and opening it, coming face to face with the bartender from earlier. "Sorry, mate...my friend was sick."

He merely glared at the two girls, not buying Naomi's story. "Yeah right, how about you two get a fucking room, yeah?" He gestured toward the door with his thumb. "Let's go ladies."

They walked out of the loo with the bartender following them, greeted by club-goers, who started whistling and catcalling them, causing Naomi the smirk and Emily to blush. Explaining things to Katie and Effy, who had been waiting in the queue, would've been trickier, so Naomi nor Emily even bothered to try.

Soon after, the four of them left and decided to call it a night knowing that work was waiting for them in the morning. Emily was sitting in the back of a taxi, not really listening to Katie talk about the seriously fit bloke she chatted up earlier and danced most of the night with. It was hard to pay attention to her sister when she could t stop thinking about Naomi and what had happened between them. She was jolted out of her musings when her mobile started vibrating against her leg.

She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. ' _Fuck!_ ' She thought to herself as she saw twenty missed calls and five texts from Georgina, but it was the single text, just received, that really caught her attention.

 _ **i know you're scared, ems. i saw it in your eyes, and i wanna know the reason for it. i understand that things won't be simple, but a little complication never hurt, right?**_

Emily read the text and sighed. She decided to chalk it up to the alcohol that Naomi had earlier, until another text popped up a few seconds later.

 _ **it wasn't the alcohol talking. i want you! XOXO**_

Emily groaned and leant her head against the window. This could quickly turn into a mess and she didn't know what to do. Naomi's text glared up at her, mocking her, waiting for a reply. She could only think of one word and typed it in, sighing as she pressed the send button.

* * *

 _ **why?**_

Naomi had just unlocked the door when Emily's text came through. She stared at the single worded question and gave it some thought, but she honestly didn't have an answer just yet, so she let it go for now.

She quietly made her way into her room, Elysse's words flashing in her mind like a neon sign, and so she opened her bottom dresser drawer and rummaged through it. Naomi started to panic when she couldn't find what she was looking for, so she pulled the drawer completely out and tip it over, her undergarments spilling everywhere and she started tossing her knickers and bras behind her, until she finally found what she was looking for.

Naomi was so relieved, that she cried tears. In her hands was Naomi's only physical link to the night she shared with Emily, and after Elysse's digs earlier, Naomi thought for sure she had lost it. She held Emily's Fitch Construction t-shirt up to her nose and inhaled deeply, catching the very faint smell of Emily. Naomi knew it was bound to happen eventually, the scent was always going to fade away but maybe now, just maybe, she'd have the chance to get it back.

She sighed deeply, thinking about Emily's waiting text and knew she was on the verge of being pathetic. Naomi knew exactly why she wanted Emily, no matter what, but she also knew that she couldn't exactly say it out loud for fear of scaring the other girl off. Emily Fitch was a touchy creature, Naomi had learnt that over the last couple of months, their night in London and dancing in Bristol being the odd moments.

That's not saying that those two occasions were out of character for Emily, Naomi knew that when you had that much passion, that wasn't just for show. No, there was something else that made Emily skittish, something had to have happened to her to make her the way she was, and Naomi was dying to find out and bring out the real Emily.

She stripped down to her bare skin, grabbed her mobile and slide into bed, letting herself decompress after the long and then stared at the screen, thinking about how to reply. It seemed to take hours, and she had typed and erased so many times, that she was about to say fuck it, but then she finally decided to go with plain and simple. So with a smile, she typed.

 _ **because ;) XOXO**_

Satisfied, Naomi hit send and fell asleep with thoughts of Emily in her head.

* * *

 **Alright guys...another chapter down. And again, I apologise for the delays with my stories, but real life really does stick its nose in sometimes...**

 **Anyways, let me know what you think. Love it? Hate it?**

 **Lots of love,**

 **Marsupial**


	7. Chapter 7: The Quiet and Confused Heart

**A/N: Hello my lovelies! Sorry about the delays, but I've been building my mummy a pavilion and that's been eating up all my free time. **

**Huge shout out to TheAeacusProject! You rock, my friend!**

 **And what would this space be without a shout out to my partner in crime, mswitsend? Nothing, that's what! Love ya, babes...(p.s. Sorry I didn't get this out yesterday, but Effy and Emily wouldn't shut up;D)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Skins, but what I do own is a copy of "Set the Thames On Fire"...the lengths I will go to to see Lily Loveless...just saying!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Quiet and Confused Heart**

They celebrated the completion of the first home on Saturday, along with the family and their two kids, but Naomi and Effy drug the whole crew to a new hot club after filming had ended and they left the family to settle in. Cook and Effy were making it their job that everyone was having a fun time.

Emily, however, was not having an enjoyable time.

It's not that she didn't want to, but now she was so confused about everything, that it was hard to.

She realised that Naomi was serious about her desire, as she had caught scorching looks from the blonde from across the work site. The kind that would make Emily go weak in the knees. And even when she wasn't looking into those blue eyes, Emily could feel the looks. It felt as if someone had physically reached out and caressed her.

Emily cherished those looks and the little smiles and the quick winks that Naomi would send her, but what she had really been enjoying, until a couple days ago, were the moments when Naomi would corner Emily alone. Those moments of pleasure had come to a grinding halt as soon as a disgustingly familiar pink Mini Cooper pulled up in front of the house.

Georgina had hopped out of the car and ran to Emily, embracing her as if it had been years instead of a couple of weeks since they had last seen each other. Emily felt herself flinch at the contact, catching Naomi's eyes over Georgie's shoulder and felt confusion hit once more as the blonde smirked before turning to go into the production trailer.

So now, whilst everyone else was out on the dance floor or up at the bar ordering more drinks, Emily was sat at one of the tables they had been occupying, her back facing the corner as she watched Naomi dancing with some random guy and Georgina sitting next to her, talking about something or other. There was a mixture of extreme annoyance and jealousy swirling around Emily and she wondered how Georgie didn't notice it.

" _Emily_?"

And how could Naomi let that guy put his hands on her like that? Emily was seething, every time that wanker ran his hands over the blonde's body, Emily had to fight the urge to jump up and rip them off. But was that really her problem? Did she have a right to Naomi? Could she beg for exclusivity when she was still technically with her girlfriend?

" _Emsy, honey, are you listening to me?_ "

There was a buzzing in her ears that rivaled the bass beat of the music as she glared at yet another tosser who had slid in behind Naomi as the song changed. Emily wanted to march right over there and drag Naomi away from the dance floor and find a secluded spot to stake her claim, but she knew she couldn't. The exact reason was escaping her at the moment but she knew there was one.

" _Emily, sweetheart, I'm talking to you, dear."_

Emily blinked rapidly as the reason she wasn't dancing with Naomi was suddenly thrust in her face as Georgina leant over and kissed her.

"What the fuck, Georgie!" Emily pulled away and glared, wiping at her lips with the back of her hand. "Why do you _insist_ on using those names?" She demanded as the pet names Georgie was using finally sunk in.

Georgina looked hurt for a split second, looking as if Emily had slapped her, but her gaze narrowed to a glare and normally, Emily would take that look as a warning and placate her girlfriend, but tonight she couldn't even drum up the energy to do so.

"I've been sitting here for twenty minutes, _trying_ to talk to you!" Georgie snapped out, slapping a hand down on the table. "What the fuck is wrong with you, _dear_?"

Emily stood up so fast that her chair slammed into the wall behind her. She needed to get out of there and she needed to breathe fresh air and she needed to be away from her girlfriend and anywhere away that didn't include random guys rubbing their fucking body parts against _her_ Naomi!

She turned to leave when she was suddenly reminded of the large amount of alcohol she had consumed, as the room started to spin and her knees buckled and she felt as if she was about to go down. Emily caught herself on the table next to her and took a few deep breaths, but she couldn't stop the wild beating of her heart as she became anxious. To make matters worse, Georgie was still there, calling her those fucking pet names. And it seemed that Georgie did it more when she thought Emily wasn't paying her enough attention.

" _Honey_ , are you okay?"

Emily could hear the condescending tone and groaned. "For the last _fucking_ time," the groan turned into a growl, as she noticed the smirk on Georgie's face, "stop with the fucking pet names! I'm going out for some air, just...leave me be, yeah?"

Emily didn't even bother to look at her girlfriend, as she finally made her way out of the club. She walked over to a table that had been set up out back for the smokers and sat down, taking deep breaths. She knew that something had to change and it had to change soon, but for now, she just needed to breathe.

* * *

Effy waited until she saw Emily slip out the door before she made her way over to the table, where Georgina sat with an angry expression on her face.

"Trouble in paradise?" Effy smirked, already knowing the answer. She sat down before the other girl could answer, and sipped from the drink in her hand. "Is Emily okay?"

Georgie shrugged and sent a grimace in Effy's direction. "She shouldn't drink then, should she?" She replied, turning her eyes toward the dance floor. "She knows I hate it and I think she does it to piss me off."

Effy shook her head. "I highly doubt that." She replied, keeping her eyes focused on Georgina. "I think she's under a lot of pressure now, with her new job and having been put in the spotlight and all...," Effy felt the need to defend her new friend and in an odd way, Naomi as well, "you could cut her a bit of slack, maybe."

"How would you know? You don't even know Emily, so why don't you just mind your own business!" Georgie snapped. She hated the thought that someone might know more than her about what her girlfriend was going through. It was bad enough that she had to constantly worry about the blonde bitch always hanging around Emily, and it's not like she didn't see the looks they shared back in Bristol. She wasn't stupid, no matter what Emily might think.

Effy sat up straighter in her seat, feeling a usual surge of anger rush through her. "Emily is my business now. It's my job to make sure she's alright, it's in the contract," she smirked even though her gaze was fierce, holding Georgie in place, "so I have to be aware of anything that could upset her and delay shooting the show. So, what I'm wondering, is if you're going to be a hindrance to my show?"

Georgie wanted to get up and leave, she didn't want to be bothered with any of these new people in Emily's life. Katie and Cook were bad enough without adding to the growing list of people constantly watching over Emily, as if she was a fragile China doll about to break at any moment. But she couldn't seem to move, feeling pinned down by the weight of that unshakable gaze.

"The thing is, Georgie," Effy's smirk became a weapon, and she was about to draw blood, "Emily's work ethic has dropped since you've arrived and it's not good for filming."

"How the fuck is that my fault?" Georgie sat up, breaking away from the soul-searching glare. She could feel her face heat up and thanked god that it was dark enough in the club so that Effy didn't see it. "It's not like I have any control over Emily, and believe me, I've tried!"

Georgina slapped her hand over her mouth, wishing could take back those words, whilst Effy sat back and her smirked turned into a smile and she raised her eyebrow in question of what the girl had just said knowing, just like Georgina, that she had said too much.

"I didn't mean tha-,"

"Oh, I think I know exactly what you meant." Effy replied, refusing to let her finish as she stood up. She knew back in Bristol what type of girl Georgina was, and tonight only confirmed it. "Interesting statement, wouldn't you agree?" Effy let the words hang in the air between them before leaving the girl alone and made her way out to find Emily.

* * *

The music was flowing through Naomi as she danced. It made her skin buzz and she laughed at the feeling. Even the black spot that was Georgina couldn't dampen how she felt. Admittedly, she was quite angry when she saw the woman clinging to Emily mere seconds after she arrived the other day, but the memory of what her and Emily had been doing ten minutes prior to her arrival had calmed the unusual surge of jealousy.

She really wanted to be dancing with Emily. Or kissing Emily. Or even just _talking_ with Emily. That's how bad she had it. But Naomi had kept her distance while Georgie was here because she had seen the look of pure panic and something else on Emily's face and Naomi didn't want to make it worse for her. So, she went about her business, kept any Emily interactions to a necessary minimum, and tried not to rip out Georgie's eyes for looking at the redhead. That would've been a huge tip off, right?

Naomi stopped moving to the music, shrugging off the hands of her latest dance partner when she realised that she hadn't seen Emily in a while. She had been making sure to keep an eye on her as she sat with Georgie, drinking a lot. Naomi had noticed on other nights out how Emily would get pissed and she worried even then, but tonight the redhead seemed to be in a mission to get as wasted as possible as quickly as possible and Naomi was scared.

She looked over toward the table where she had last seen Emily, but could only see Georgie and Effy, so she started to make her way around the club. Naomi spotted Cook with some random at the bar and made her way over to him.

"Have you seen Emily?" She asked, making sure to get close enough so he could hear her.

Cook removed his tongue from the girl's mouth and stood up straight, suddenly sober. "She's not at the table?" He replied with a question of his own, feeling stupid as he pushed away from the girl as Naomi shook her head. "Fuck!"

Naomi watched as he became anxious and charged his way through the crowd. It was interesting to see him morph into an adult and she followed him to the table.

"Where is she?" He growled out, making Georgina jump in her seat.

"I don't fucking know, I'm not her babysitter!" Georgie shouted back, getting tired of everyone banging on about _her_ girlfriend, but then looked behind Cook to see Naomi standing there. "Fucking great! What do _you_ want?"

Cook was visibly shaking with anger as he checked the urge to strangle Georgie. "For fucks sake, you know how she is, girl! You're her girlfriend! Don't you fucking care at all about her?"

Georgina had had enough. She was sick of being ignored and lectured to, she was done having strangers talking to her about Emily and she was sure as fuck done with Cook, _Cook_ of all people, making her feel like a child whilst he was the mature one. She stood up and looked him in the eye. "Fuck you, Cook! I don't need this shit!" She spat out as she grabbed her jacket and her purse. "She's a big girl, ya know, but if you're so concerned about her, why don't _you_ go find her! And when you do, tell her I'll be waiting at home for an apology!"

Naomi watched in shock, as Georgina started to walk past her, but heard the comment that was spat at her. "I blame _you_ for this!" Georgie stormed off, leaving a bewildered Naomi and a fuming Cook in her wake.

" _FUCK_!" Cook shouted, making Naomi jump. "C'mon, Naomikins, let's go find 'er, yeah?"

* * *

Effy stood at the corner of the building, smoking and watching Emily. She had never seen a more broken person in her life and something inside her made her want to protect this small woman.

Emily sat on the ground, with her back against the wall, and Effy could see her face in the pale glow of the lamplight. She was crying. Not sobbing uncontrollably, that wouldn't be like Emily. No, these were silent tears. The kind that slipped through unnoticed and unchecked, the kind that had to be shed because something heavy weighed upon the person crying them.

Something had happened in the last week, something between Emily and Naomi, Effy was sure of it, because both had been smiling a little more than usual, but that had changed when Emily's girlfriend arrived. Emily's smiles became nonexistent unless she was on camera, and Effy realised that she missed those smiles.

"C'mon, Emsy," Effy held out her hand to the younger twin, startling her in the process, "let's go somewhere and talk, yeah?"

Emily stared up at her boss and felt embarrassment flood through her. "I'm sorry, Ef-,"

Effy waved away Emily's words. "Don't, okay? You haven't done anything wrong. You just look like you need someone who won't judge you to listen when you talk, am I right? And I happen to be a very good listener, so...let's get somewhere warmer and quieter and have a nice cuppa and you can talk if you want to."

"Okay." Emily replied quietly, taking Effy outstretched hand and allowed the brunette to pull her to a standing position.

"I know this great little café a few blocks from blocks from here, open all night." Effy explained as they started walking. "This place was a huge lifesaver when Naomi and I were at Uni. They make a seriously excellent Full English? Cures whatever's wrong, trust me."

"I'm sorry about this, Effy." Emily felt the need to say it, to apologise for the shit she'd brought on the past couple days. "Georgina just...she's well...she's clingy, and I tried to get her _not_ to come, but...,"

"Georgina's a control freak who can't control you, that's all she is, babe." Effy stated and smirked. "Here we are!" Effy exclaimed as she opened the door to the little café. "After you, milady."

Effy left her words about Georgie hanging and Emily didn't push it, as they entered and found a seat, but as soon as the young waitress left after taking their order, she turned that mystifying gaze back to Emily.

"Why?" Effy asked, as she took the pot of water that the waitress had set on the table and started making a cup of tea.

Emily sighed deeply, knowing what Effy meant. It was a simple question, so small a word, but it was such a heavy one and Emily didn't know if she could answer properly.

"Shouldn't we let Katie know where I am, she'll worry if-,"

"I've already texted Naomi and told her to let Katie and Cook know where we are," Effy said, smiling a small smile, pushing a cup in front of her, "now, quit stalling."

Again, Emily sighed and picked up the cup, blowing on the hot liquid before taking a sip, giving herself a few more seconds. "I don't know why I'm still with her, to be honest."

"I think you do, Emily." Effy stated, setting her cup down and focusing that gaze on the redhead. "Give it a minute and try again."

Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes, causing Effy to smirk because it was a fairly accurate impersonation of Naomi, and that smirk made Emily feel angry. "What do you want me to say, Effy? Why does everyone want something from me? Why can't I just be allowed to breathe without having someone on my back about it?"

"Because people care about you," Effy replied calmly, countering Emily's aggression, "or haven't you figured that out?" She let that sink in before she continued. "You had the worst thing that could happen happen to you," Emily's eyes went wide in surprise as Effy kept talking, "Katie told me about it-,"

Emily panicked as Effy admitted that. "You haven't told Naomi, have you?" She was shaking, the shame she was feeling at just the thought that Naomi might know...she wouldn't be able to handle that. Emily felt Effy's hand on her arm, comforting her and she couldn't stop the tears as she felt them spill again. "I couldn't take her knowing-,"

"Emily, stop. I haven't said anything to anyone, yeah?" Effy moved closer to the redhead, wrapping an arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Look, Naomi's my best friend, has been for years, so I know you're probably thinking that I tell her everything, but it isn't my place to tell her this. I would never do that, okay?"

Emily sniffed back the tears, wiped her face and thought about what Effy said. "Okay...I...it's just...," Emily stopped talking, long enough to gather herself, "I was stronger, you know...before... _her._ I grew up with Katie for fucks sake!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes and Effy chuckled, but didn't say anything. "I wasn't weak, I could defend myself, ya know?"

"So, what changed?" Effy asked, taking a sip of her tea.

Emily followed suit, giving herself that extra time to compose her thoughts. "I thought I needed her. She made me feel like...," she paused to find the right analogy, "...you know how water breaks down rock over time? The constant running of a stream will smooth out the roughest stone?" Effy nodded and Emily continued. "She was the water and I became the rock."

"But you saw what she was doing, right?"

Emily shook her head sadly. "Not at first. She was very good at hiding who she really was, but slowly, bit by bit, she chipped away until she got what she wanted and by then, well...," she shrugged, feeling small. She always felt small whenever she thought of Felicity. She glanced at Effy and realised that she wanted to say something and decided to answer before she asked. "I don't know why I let it go on for as long as it did, Effy."

Effy heard the defeat and felt bad. "I'm not judging you, at all, Emily. There really is no reason whatsoever behind domestic violence," she hurriedly clarified, "I was just thinking about a film Naomi did when she went to school in the States on the subject. You should watch it. Does Georgina...?"

"No, never."

"And what about...?" Effy asked, tapping her finger against her temple, knowing that Emily would understand.

The redhead sighed again, but shrugged. "She tries...but she's more of an annoyance than an abuser. I just don't care what she does, so it doesn't affect me when she tries to hurt me with words. I know it makes me weak, keeping her around, but...,"

"It does nothing of the sort, Emily." Effy stated firmly, waiting until Emily looked at her before going on. "No one blames you for trying to protect yourself, and the shame you feel about what happened? Well, only you can decide when it's time to forgive yourself, okay? It's my job to make for sure you're okay, and I'll do whatever I can to make that happen."

Emily was about to respond when the waitress brought their food out.

"Speaking of you and Naomi...," Effy felt a change of topic was called for and Emily groaned loudly as she was reminded of her other problem, which made Effy laugh, "what's happening there?"

"I honestly have no idea." Emily answered honestly, relived to be able to talk to someone about it.

Effy smirked again as she watched the redhead squirm. "You've been shagging." She stated simply, enjoying the blush that started to spread across Emily's face.

"Um, not exactly...," Was Emily's mumbled reply.

She couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up as she looked at Emily. "How the fuck do you _not exactly_ shag?" Effy asked.

Emily realised how ridiculous her words sounded and her laughter joined with Effy's. "It's all stolen kisses and fleeting touches and scorching looks across the build site." Emily told her before giving it any thought. "I haven't slept with Georgie since that night."

Effy didn't say anything because she found that Emily talked more when she could take her time, but she knew what she meant.

"At first it was because I felt guilty, but then...I don't know, somewhere along the line, I think it was because I knew...if things had been different, maybe if I had met Naomi when I was younger...sometimes I get the feeling that things weren't supposed to be this way, ya know? Do you ever get the feeling that your life was supposed to happen differently?" Emily asked, not even caring that she sounded insane.

"All the time." Effy replied with a smile. "I get what you mean though and I can see it. You and Naomi as love's young dream, making out between classes at school...or maybe Naomi would've run."

"What do you mean?"

"Naomi's a runner. When shit gets too much or too hard to handle," Effy felt a little bit bad talking about her friend this way, but she was never one for shying away from the truth, "she pushes people away and runs to avoid. She was...difficult...when she was younger and realised she was gay. Let's just say, that meeting her now is definitely in your favour, Emsy. She would've ended up hurting you."

"She could ruin me now."

The words were said quietly, so quietly in fact that Effy wasn't for sure if Emily said them or not until she saw the blush on her face and the tears that were threatening to spill again and she was about to respond when the bell above the café door sounded and Cook and Freddie, along with JJ, made their presence known, ending whatever conversation was left between Effy and Emily.

"Again, Emsy?" Katie asked quietly as she sat on one side of her sister, with Naomi sitting on the other side looking between Emily and Effy, wondering what was said between them.

Naomi was about to ask when Effy got her attention and shook her head slightly, letting her know that it wouldn't be wise to bring it up, so she changed the topic. "I could fucking murder a Full English!" She stated cheerfully as she eyed up Emily's plate with her barely touched food and smiled.

Emily returned it and signaled the waitress over so everyone could order. She sat back, watching as her sister and best friends laughed and talked and joked with JJ, Effy and Naomi. It was so easy, the way they all blended together. It felt natural, she thought as Effy was telling Katie and Cook about when JJ first joined the company, and seeing him blush when Naomi reached over to ruffle his curly hair.

They all finished eating and Cook talked Freddie and JJ into hitting up an after party, leaving the four girls alone.

"What about it? Can't let the boys have all the fun, can we?" Katie asked, hoping that Emily would stay out and not head back home to where Georgie waited for her.

Emiky shook her head. "I'm done for the night, Kay...you go, ya? Have fun."

"C'mon, Emsy."

"I'm fine, Katie. I promise." She threw done some money to cover her bill and stood up.

"I'm gonna head home as well." Naomi said quickly, digging through her pockets for her share of the food. "Ems, wait up, I'll walk with you a bit! Night guys."

Naomi followed Emily out and they started to walk in silence, until Naomi couldn't stand it any longer.

"Are you alright, Ems?"

Emily sighed and dropped her head. "Naoms, please...don't? I already get enough from Katie and Cook, I don-,"

"I'm not giving you shit, Ems," she clarified, putting her hand out to touch the twin, causing them both to stop walking, "I was literally terrified when I didn't see you in the club, okay? Look, I know I dropped a bomb on you last week, and since then we've not really...well, you know," Emily felt her face heat up as Naomi smirked down at her, "and then Georgie showed up...what I'm saying is, I know I promised you something and I haven't really been able to deliver on that, so...I'm sorry about that. If it's me that's making you unhappy-,"

"This is such a mess, isn't it? I'm a _fucking_ mess!" Emily stated, exasperated. "Look, I make myself unhappy, alright? I have done for a long time and I just...I don't know how to stop, yeah? Being with you, even now, just talking, is the only time I feel a glimmer of happiness, but I also know that you scare the shit out of me, Naoms. Like, heart fluttering happy and bone chilling scared. I'm complicated and you seem to make it better and worse all at the same time and I don't have a fucking clue what to do with that info. But I do know what's waiting for me at home and I don't wanna be there, so I'm just gonna walk around and try and clear my thoughts."

Naomi cocked her head to the side and considered the girl before her. Should she tell Emily how she really feels? Or should she just keep it to herself? But when she opened her mouth, telling Emily how she felt was not what came out.

"My mum went to back to Ireland for a few days and won't be home until Sunday night." She blurted out, confusing Emily, and feeling like a geeky teenage boy getting the nerve up to lose his virginity.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Ah, what I meant...," Naomi blushed, thanking whoever was listening that it was dark out and Emily couldn't see it, "you don't want to go home and I don't want you to go home and I have my flat all to myself...," Emily smiled a real smile for the first time that night as Naomi stuttered over herself, but she just kept on going, "and it doesn't even have to be about sex really, because whilst it's nice and all, I just wanna spend time with you and not have it be about the show. And I have a comfy sofa?"

Now Emily laughed, a full laugh that came from her belly. "Naomi Campbell, are inviting me back to your place for dirty sex?"

"If that's what you want, Ems," Naomi told her quietly, stepping close so she could be heard, "but seriously, even if you just want to sleep, that'd be okay too."

Emily felt her heart speeding up, on the verge of bursting from sweetness overload. She gave it a few minutes of hard thought before reaching out to take Naomi's hand. "Lead the way, yeah?"

Naomi couldn't help the burst of excitement that rushed her system as she gently squeezed the hand in hers and her smile seemed to grow bigger as she led Emily through the lamplit streets.

* * *

Emily woke up just as the sun was starting to peek out and paint the sky a faint purple and she just lay in bed, wondering when she had ever felt so relaxed. As much as she wanted to attribute that to good sex, she couldn't because Naomi was true to her word. They only talked and drank tea. Emily didn't really feel like drinking the vodka Naomi offered and felt at ease when Naomi didn't tease her when she asked for tea.

Naomi asked safe questions and Emily could tell she wanted to dig deeper, but she didn't and Emily was more grateful for that than she could say. They talked about work, about the next house that they would be starting the following Monday and they talked about their families, how Naomi lost her stepfather and Emily told Naomi about losing her mum when she was little. She found herself falling deeper when Naomi hugged her tightly as she cried over that loss, and new she was in trouble, in real danger falling completely, as Naomi led her to her bedroom when she kept yawning, and tried making a joke about Naomi taking advantage of her.

" _You need sleep, Ems. As much as I'd love to take advantage of you, you're wrecked, yeah? You can barely keep your eyes open, so c'mon_."

She had texted Katie to let her know she was staying over at Naomi's whilst Naomi was in the bathroom and smiled as the blonde came back in the room, holding a large t-shirt for her to wear. Once they were ready, Naomi guided Emily down on the bed and wrapped her arms around the tiny woman. It was enough to set Emily's tears free again and she could only nod her head when Naomi asked if she was alright. She buried her face in the crook of Naomi's neck and breathed in deeply before closing her eyes and letting sleep take over.

But now in the faint light of the early morning, still wrapped up in Naomi's arms, Emily realised that she was in bigger trouble than she had first assumed as the full impact of how she felt for Naomi hit her square in the chest. And if her life was a mess before, it had just become a disaster area.

She slipped out of bed as quietly as possible, intent on leaving as quickly as possible, but as she reached the door she glanced back and caught sight of Naomi, who had snuggled up with the pillow she had been using and had felt all the air leave her lungs.

Emily was in love, like seriously, all out in love with Naomi and she knew she was a goner.

* * *

 **Alright, there we go...another one down. What is our poor Emily gonna do?**

 **thank you so much for reading, and if you wanna leave a kind word or two, I'd be okay with that ;D**


	8. The Vengeful Ghost

**A/N:** **Hello everyone! How are we doing this fine evening/morning/day/night? I know, I suck at this writing shit and updating. But I am doing my best, I promise.**

 **First off, I need to apologize to anyone who lives or works in/for** **Haringey Council housing...I merely used them for the story, and whilst I did do research and the part about a council selling to foreign investors is true, it wasn't this council that did that, as far as I know. So again, I don't mean to offend anyone.**

 **Also, if you are not reading Walls, by MsWitsEnd, you need to fix that right away! It's not the fluffiest bunny of Naomily stories, at least not yet, but if you are a fan of literature and a fucking awesome story, check it out. and if you do and love it/like it/have questions about it, give her a shout out. I'm more than positive she'll make it worth our while...I'm just saying.**

 **Alright, so now that I've plugged her story, lets move on, shall we...To the kidnapper, holding MsWitsEnd's brain hostage, I have met your demands in a somewhat timely manner and fully expect the release of my bff...Thank you, Marsupial**

 **Disclaimer: Skins, not mine**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Vengeful** **Ghost**

The work site was quiet at six a.m., as Emily walked through the obstacles of lumber and shingles. She wanted the peace and solitude after the last week of chaos. Georgina left the night before, thankfully, after the longest week of Emily's life. After last weekend, and what a weekend that was, Georgie was glued to Emily's side when the redhead wasn't at work, and Emily knew that she knew something was up. Thankfully, she had convinced her girlfriend not to come to the site whilst they were filming, but that didn't help for after a hard day's work when Georgie attached herself to Emily's side.

She walked to the far end of the garden, setting her toolbox on the floor, and started going through it, cleaning and rearranging. They had finished the second house and were starting on the third one, and she had wanted a little bit of " _me time"_ before the rest of the crew turned up.

She had no idea what she was doing with herself, but that was nothing new. Emily's world had been turned upside down since she had started dating Felicity all those years ago and it had never been normal since.

Her stomach lurched at the thought of her first girlfriend, the way it always did when she would think about her. You'd think after almost ten years, the sick knot of fear would never present itself anymore, but Emily knew better. She knew that by not dealing properly with what had happened, she would never get over it completely.

Emily quickly changed her thoughts from Felicity to Georgina and groaned loudly.

That was a mess that needed to be cleaned up in a hurry, but fuck if Emily could find the balls to do it. It was true what she had told Effy last week, and as much as Georgie tried, Emily just couldn't drum up the energy to fall into the other girl's trap. She'd like to think she'd learned her lesson with Felicity, but Emily knew that wasn't it. It was because she didn't care enough about the woman to give a fuck. But she knew that eventually, she would have to break up with Georgina, that was for certain.

Emily checked the time on her mobile and knew she didn't have much longer alone, so she dug out her list of materials and started double checking that they had everything. It was a process that didn't require much thinking, and it usually helped clear her mind. She was in the middle of counting Sheetrock, when Emily heard footsteps crunching up the pavement and she sighed quietly.

"Alright, Ems?"

Emily jumped as Naomi's voice sounded around her, seeming to echo in the early morning.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Naomi stated quickly as she watched Emily shake, nervously. "Are you okay, babe?"

Emily looked up, noticing how close the other girl was, and blushed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I'm fine…sorry." She replied, ducking her head again.

Naomi eyed her up sceptically. "Are you sure? You seem…tense."

Emily blushed deeply, because every time Naomi had said that phrase over the last week, it was usually muttered quietly with a smirk and usually led to the two of them making out somewhere privately. The new level of concern in Naomi's voice made Emily uncomfortable.

"I-I…um…good, fine. I'm fine." She stated quickly and hurriedly went back to taking inventory. "We're going to need to get hold of our supplier. They shorted us a bundle of Sheetrock." Emily said, double checking her numbers, as Naomi stood close, taking stock of her.

Emily knew if she turned around, she'd a look on Naomi's face and felt sad. She didn't want that look from Naomi. The kind of look that she got from Katie and Dad, the ones that Cook would send her way on occasion. That look of concern mixed with pity. Emily hated that look and she absolutely did not want that from Naomi.

"Can you _not_ look at me like that, please?" Emily asked without turning around.

Naomi frowned as she heard the irritation in that husky voice, and even though she knew she hadn't done anything wrong, she felt guilty. "I'm sorry," she replied, trying to keep the hurt out of her own voice, "I'll get hold of the supplier as soon as they open. Is there anything else?"

Emily felt her heart lurch when the iciness that had not been present since the first week of filming settled back in Naomi's voice. She hated that tone and hated that it was once again directed at her. "I'm…," Emily choked on the thick lump that had formed in her throat, because Naomi didn't deserve any of her mental mood swings, "Naomi…I'm sorry."

Naomi merely cocked her, analysing the myriad of emotions drifting across Emily's face. "What are you sorry for exactly, Ems?"

Emily blinked at the question. She had expected a huff or a scowl or a glare, but what she got was genuine curiosity. It took her a few minutes to come up with an answer as the blonde waited patiently. "For being me, I guess?" She stated with a shrug, turning back to her list. "I didn't mean to sound so…,"

"Pissy?" Naomi supplied when Emily faltered.

Emily rolled her eyes, grimacing in self-loathing. "Yeah, pissy. It's just…I don't know how to do _this_."

Naomi took a moment to gather her thoughts, crossing her arms in front of her, leaning her hip against a bundle of lumber. She knew that Emily had issues, that much had been obvious to Naomi the longer she spent in the smaller girl's company, but the thing that shocked her the most was that she _wanted_ to know what those issues were and how could she help to fix them.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Ems, I'm not an expert either." Naomi said, her lips twisting into a small smile. "This is new to me…I've never been _so_ intrigued by someone, like…ever, yeah?"

"Why?" Emily asked to cover up her shock at that. "And why me?" She added in disbelief.

Naomi laughed, not quite sure she understood. "Why _not_ you?" She asked, her laughter fading and her heart thudding painfully as she realised that Emily truly thought she wasn't worth anyone's time. "Don't you realise how great you are?"

Emily scoffed at that. "I'm not great, Naoms, I'm a fucking mess who's _great_ at pretending." She said sadly, shaking her head.

"Who hurt you, Ems?" She asked, honestly wanting to know.

The redhead shook her head again, dismissing the question and Naomi was about to press the issue when voices sounded from around the front of the house, indicating that it was time to shelve the discussion for the moment.

Once the workday began, Naomi and Emily were so busy that there was no time for continued discussions or sneaky, sexy alone moments. There were _get to know me_ sessions with the new family and Emily to prepare for, and Naomi spent a good couple of hours hunting down the missing bundle of Sheetrock before they could film those, Effy was busy ordering supplies for the next project and it seemed as if Katie had adopted Gina, as the two of them went about handling the interior design. It was all a little bit hectic and backwards, but they made it work.

But it didn't stop Naomi from wondering about Emily as she watched her from across the work site and even though she was wondering about Emily's issues, it didn't stop the longing to be with her that Naomi felt deep inside.

* * *

Gina followed along with Katie, checking furniture and appliance stores, loving every minute of it. She hadn't felt this useful in years. And Katie was an absolute pleasure, Gina discovered. The girl was smart as a whip, bold as hell and surprisingly sweet under her rough exterior.

Katie had explained how her dad had started the business when he was younger before she and Emily were even born and had built it up over the years. She found out both Katie and Emily held degrees in architecture but had been impressed when she found out that both girls had done a double major at university. Gina had also pressed gently about the girls' mother, and found herself heartbroken and proud at the same time. She wanted to smother them both with a mother's love and shake their father's hand for raising two bright and intelligent daughters.

Once everything had been ordered for the job and delivery times had been scheduled, Katie suggested lunch before going back to the site. They ended up at the same café where they first met, and after a quick word with the cameraman that had been following them all morning, he said he had enough footage for the day and would see them back at the site. That left Katie and Gina alone to enjoy their lunch.

"I don't know how you've gotten used to that?" Gina said as she looked at the menu the waiter brought when he brought their drinks. "I hated it when Kieran stuck one in my face every time I turned around."

"What?"

Gina gestured toward the window, to where the young man had walked off to. "The cameras everywhere. My late husband used to take pictures of me and Naomi all the time. Then when Naomi went of to the States for school, it got worse. He was like the damned paparazzi."

Katie shrugged, with a smile. "I like the attention if I'm honest. Although, Emily's having troubles with it." She added absently, whilst she perused the menu, drawing Gina's attention.

"Why's that?" The older woman asked, as the waiter came over and asked if they were ready to order.

They both ordered something light and handed the menus back to the young man, and once he was gone, Gina asked again.

"So why is Emily having a tough time with the cameras? Surely, she knew the deal when you were hired for the job, yes?"

Katie nodded as she sipped her drink. "Of course, but Emily's not really one for the spotlight." She explained.

Gina nodded, having noticed the hesitation in the younger twin at times, but she also noticed the looks that would pass between Emily and her daughter, so she decided some motherly investigating was needed.

"So, what's going on between Emily and my daughter?"

Katie almost choked on her drink, taking a moment to make sure she didn't spit it back out, before addressing the question. "W-what, um," Katie coughed to clear her throat, "what do you mean?"

Gina laughed, as Katie tried to act professionally. "You're as cute as button, love, but I'm not blind. I can tell that something _has_ happened, Naomi is an open book sometimes. But what I want to know is what's happening between them _now_?"

Katie was torn because she wanted to remain loyal to Emily, but there was something so warm and inviting about Gina, something that just made you want to tell her everything.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want, love," Gina said quietly, placing her over Katie's and squeezing it gently, "but I think if I knew the whole picture, it might help."

Katie sighed deeply. "They had a moment, back when we first met."

"A _moment_?" Gina merely raised an eyebrow, not unlike Naomi, and chuckled. "Is that what you kids are calling it these days?"

Katie laughed, and Gina smiled, breaking the ice around the subject and after their food was served, Katie explained everything she knew, hoping Gina wouldn't judge Emily for cheating on her girlfriend, but she realised that she had nothing to worry about because Gina was easily one of the least judgemental people she had ever met. And Gina sat and listened, asking questions when she needed something clarified and as Katie spoke, she began to get a little better understanding of who Emily was and how she affected Naomi.

"Can I ask you something more personal? And you may or may not answer, but it's something I'm curious about." Gina took a sip from her drink, waiting for Katie to acquiesce, which she did with a small nod of her head. "What happened to Emily?"

"What? I don'-,"

Gina was quick to brush off Katie's automatic denial. "It's not hard to see if you're looking and trust me, love, people are going to be looking. It's going to be unavoidable once the show starts to air and when that happens, you and Emily will be thrust into the spotlight, whether you like it or not and people will dig for any scrape of information they can find, good or bad. So, with all that being said, who hurt Emily and why?"

As Gina's words sunk in, Katie realised that she was right. Once they were on air, it would be open season on them and if there was one thing Emily craved more than a mousy girlfriend, who didn't ask for too much, it was her privacy about what had happened when she was younger.

"Fuck." Katie muttered as she slumped forward, resting her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands. "If the press finds out about that, it'll kill her. I've gotta talk to Emily."

Gina took pity on the girl because she could see that the thought distressed her. "It's probably time to get back anyway, yes?"

Katie nodded as they stood, threw some money on the table and headed out, catching a bus. Gina didn't push for any more conversation as they sat in silence, which was a good thing because Katie was wondering and worrying about Emily.

' _What did I drag Emily into?'_ Katie thought to herself as guilt flooded her, as she stared out the window, at the passing scenery.

* * *

It wasn't until later in the day, that Naomi started to get an inkling of Emily's issues.

They had waited to film the interview segments with the family until Naomi had received a promise that the missing bundle of Sheetrock would be delivered by the end of the workday. So, with Thomas filming, Naomi sat down and watched as Emily started talking intimately with the family.

"So, Kenneth," Emily started off the interview with a smile, "could you tell us a little bit about yours and Julia's background?"

Kenneth and Julia Hammond had lived with his two children on an estate in Wood Green, until the council demolished it with a promise to rebuild better flats, but come to find out, all the available units were sold to foreign investors, driving the rates up.

"I met Julia about three years after my first wife passed away," Kenneth started, hesitantly, "and it was like love at first sight." He said with a loving smile, as he glanced in his wife's direction. "She had just come out of a bad relationship…," he trailed off as if he couldn't believe he had just said that out loud.

Julia blushed a bit but took pity on her husband. "I was in an abusive marriage, and I was so…broken and had felt…," Julia trailed off, searching for just the right word to describe how she felt, "…unworthy, I guess you'd say." Emily's heart constricted as she listened to Julia speak, but she merely nodded, encouraging the woman to go on. "When I met Kenny, I was so scared of being with anyone ever again."

"I wore her down with my charm, I did." Kenneth grinned, as he leant over and kissed his wife's cheek.

Julia laughed, a beautiful sound that touched Kenneth, Emily, and Naomi, because it was real. Not the forced laugh of someone dealing with a painful past having to be remembered, but the joyful laugh of a woman who was stronger for having gone through what she went through. "Pestered is more like it, but yes…he did wear me down and showed me that I could trust him to love me. And when I found out he had children?" Julia's smile got even brighter, as she glanced over at the two young girls sitting with Effy and JJ. "That was the icing on the cake, because I can't have children of my own because of what happened with my first husband," Emily quietly gasped at that information, causing Naomi to cast a worried glance at her, but Julia kept on going, "so here I was, in the middle of this little family, that was trying to get through every day and they just…made a place for me. It was wonderful." Julia exclaimed, finishing with a smile.

"When the Haringey Council sold out and demolished the estate, I took a job with the crew rebuilding, hoping to be able to secure a housing unit, and we were devastated when we found out that they had all been sold, months before they were even completed." Kenneth explained, barely containing his displeasure.

Emily was still reeling from Julia's admission, trying hard to keep up with the two of them. She knew there were more questions she needed to ask, but couldn't get past what she had heard. She could feel herself start to shake, as she noticed three sets of eyes on her and felt her stomach clench and roil, almost violently, and knew she needed to get away as soon as possible.

"Emily, are you alright?" Naomi asked, after having witnessed the extreme change. She had stepped close enough for Emily to hear the whispered question. "You don't look too good."

Emily felt like crying, as Naomi stood there and looked down on her, again with pity in her eyes. "Don't look at me like that, Naomi," she tried to sound angry because she was angry, but it wasn't Naomi's fault that she was a freak, "please, don't look at me like that. I just need a minute, okay? I'll be right back." Emily stood up and headed into the trailer that had been set up for their office on-site.

She didn't even look back as she closed the door behind her and stepped into the tiny bathroom, and expelled the contents of her stomach into the loo. Once that was done, the tears came. And wasn't that just the way it always seemed to go? It was like every time Emily turned around, she was reminded of Felicity. Every fucking time! She sobbed loudly, as her body shook because she was reminded of a secret so huge, that not even Katie knew.

Emily was so lost in her own misery, that she didn't hear the gentle knocking, and had been thinking she was grateful that Katie was out with Gina still because she really couldn't bear the mothering that her sister would no doubt administer.

"Emily?"

Emily tensed up and sighed as Naomi's voice sounded through the trailer. Of course, Naomi was going to follow her, wasn't she? Irritation flowed through her as she thought of why Naomi followed her.

"Emily? Are you okay?" Naomi asked softly, from her spot right outside the door.

"Go away, _Naoms_. I'm not in the mood for a quickie!" Emily snapped out tearfully, falling into her defence mode of pushing people away.

Naomi stood outside the bathroom and quietly sniffed back the sudden tears that Emily's words brought out. That comment stung, it truly did, but Naomi could tell that something was wrong and she was concerned. "Please don't be like that, Ems. I didn't come in here for that and I think you'd know that if you really wanted to."

The sobs grew louder from inside the tiny room and Naomi wanted to be in there, comforting the younger twin. She tried the doorknob and breathed a sigh of relief when it turned freely, allowing her to stick her head around the door.

"Oh, Emily…," Naomi whispered as she took in the sight of Emily, practically lying on the floor, tears streaming down her face, "babes, please tell me what's wrong?" She asked as she sat down next to the redhead and scooped her up, wrapping her arms around Emily's seemingly fragile body and tried her best to soothe her.

Emily felt the arms around her and tensed, hating the claustrophobic feeling. She struggled against Naomi. "Let me go." She spat out as if Naomi was an enemy she needed to get away from and she started pushing at the blonde, trying to release her hold.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Ems…," Naomi pleaded with her, not knowing where this sudden need to comfort came from but feeling as if she would lose any chance at all with Emily if she let go.

They struggled for a couple of minutes before all the fight seemed to leave the redhead and she allowed Naomi to hold her. Emily sat in Naomi's lap and shed her tears of grief and self-pity, keeping her own arms wrapped around herself, as if Naomi was going to hurt her somehow and she needed to protect herself. She didn't want Naomi to see this, to see her like this, she wanted Naomi to see the Emily she first met in London.

"Please tell me how to help you? Tell me what's wrong?" Naomi begged again, but Emily shook her head against her chest.

"No. I can't, Naomi." Emily muttered.

"Can't or won't?" Naomi asked quietly, not expecting the stab of hurt as Emily kept things from her.

Emily scoffed. "Is there a difference?"

"I guess not, cos it all means the same thing to you, doesn't it?" Naomi was getting testy, she could hear it in her own voice but suddenly didn't have the power to reign it in.

Emily's brain warned her of the tone of Naomi's voice, and normally she would just ignore it and walk away, but she knew that Naomi wouldn't allow that. "I need to get up." Emily stated quickly as she scrambled to stand.

Naomi didn't stop her, merely loosened her hold, watched as Emily left the room and then sighed in relief when she didn't hear the redhead leave the trailer. She took a deep breath to calm herself and then stood up, following Emily.

"Emily, I need to know what's going on and I think I need to know right now." Naomi demanded, putting a touch of professionalism in her voice.

Emily misunderstood the tone and only heard anger. "You can't talk to me like this." She muttered, hating the sound of weakness in her voice. This is why she can't let Naomi in. Because she's dangerous. Naomi had the power to knock down every wall she had ever built up since Felicity and that scared Emily to her core.

"I can't talk to you like _this_? What, like a boss? Or like a human being? C'mon, Ems, which is it?" Naomi was gearing up for a fight now, having dealt with diva stars before, she was pretty capable of handling herself, but she didn't see Emily like that, as a diva. She had never seen Emily as anything other than someone special and she wasn't sure she cared for this Emily. "You just ran out, during an interview, leaving the couple sitting there, wondering what happened. Because that's so professional!"

Emily cringed with each word. "Stop."

"Why?" Naomi asked, unaware that she was almost yelling now. "Why should I stop reprimanding my _employee_?"

"Please stop, Naoms…,"

"Don't you _Naoms_ me, Emily! You don't get to _Naoms_ me when you've just basically told me that I don't have a right to know what's going on!" She said, taking a few steps toward the redhead, not knowing the signs that something wasn't right, as Emily shrunk in on herself and the tears came back.

Emily felt for sure that a blow would arrive soon, so she made herself as small as possible to minimise Naomi's target. She felt as if her body was weighted down and she couldn't move. She could feel her heart start pounding and hear the blood rush in her ears, as the room started to spin around her, as Naomi continued talking, but Emily blocked her out, intent on protecting herself.

Deep down she knew what was happening, she wasn't stupid. It had happened enough with Felicity that Emily had recognised the signs, but Naomi didn't know that. And the voices inside Emily's head didn't help as they kept telling her what a waste of space she was, and that she should just give up now and go home. Run back to Georgina, because she was safe and would never hurt her.

The voices were always the worst, Emily thought to herself as the icy sweat started to form on her face, which brought more shaking. Those voices nagged at her until she was convinced that she was nothing, less than nothing. Soon Naomi's voice disappeared altogether, leaving Emily with only the sound of her past raging in her mind. Like a vengeful ghost coming back to haunt her.

"Fee…please?" Emily choked the words out quietly, as if someone had a hand around her throat, cutting off her oxygen. She didn't hear or see Naomi anymore, instead Emily saw Felicity, the way her face would turn ugly when she was displeased and heard the icy calmness of Felicity's voice. It was painful to be slapped with this spectre from her past and Emily could do nothing to stop the panic attack.

Naomi didn't hear the plea, didn't hear the name that wasn't hers, didn't hear the gasping sound as Emily struggled to take a breath. She wasn't even looking at Emily as she continued her tirade. "I can't _believe_ I've gotta work with another fucking princess! You know, Effy promised me that this time things would be different, but they're not! Not really, are they? I think the least you could do is be professional! Go back out the and finish the interviews at least!"

Naomi's voice thundered through the tiny trailer, making it feel like it was shrinking in size. Emily gasped for air like someone had thrown her into a box and closed the lid. Her vision was hazy and she couldn't see straight.

She whimpered now. "Please, F…Felicity…please stop?" She cried out a little louder, as she begged.

Naomi was about to yell again but wanted to look Emily in the eyes as she drove her point home, so she turned around and froze, finally hearing the words coming out of Emily's mouth, on a repeated loop, like a broken record player.

"Please stop, Felicity!"

Naomi didn't know whether to cradle the girl in front of her or call an ambulance, as every part of her cried out for Emily. She had never seen anyone look so lost and broken and it seriously was doing strange things to her insides and she had to stop herself from gathering Emily up in her as she crawled closer to her.

She was reaching for her mobile when she heard Katie yelling for Emily outside the trailer, and sounding urgent to boot, so she scrambled up and over to the door.

"Katie! In here, quick!" Naomi shouted out, and went back in, followed by Katie, Gina, and Effy.

Katie walked in and took one look at her sister curled up in a ball on the floor, mumbling Felicity's name and almost went on a rampage, but as she turned to scream at Naomi, she saw concern in those blue eyes and knew that whatever had happened wasn't really her fault.

Effy gasped loudly as she stepped in behind Gina. "What the fuck?" She whispered, to no one in particular.

Katie didn't have time to waste as Emily laid there, so she slipped off her heels and crawl down along the floor until she reached Emily and gently, ever so gently, she eased the redhead up and into her arms and started soothing her.

"Shush…it's alright, Emsy…I've got you, you're alright. Breathe, Emsy…breathe." Katie spoke softly, and ran her hand through those red locks and up and down Emily's back, speaking the whole time. "It's alright, Emsy…Felicity's gone and she's never coming back, yeah? Remember? She can never hurt you again, I promise."

"Effy, love, why don't we call it a day, yeah?" Gina ushered the brunette out, giving the other girls space, and Effy agreed. They had worked most of the day anyway, so it wasn't like they were going to be short on time. Naomi informed her mother with a look that she was staying, and Gina smiled and nodded as she left.

Naomi watched as Katie cuddled with Emily and felt like an arsehole because she didn't know what had happened and she didn't know what to do. When it looked like Emily had calmed down enough, Naomi was able to get Katie's attention.

"What's going on, Kay?" Naomi asked softly so as not to disturb Emily, waiting for an answer from the older twin. "What happened to her?"

Katie looked up from her sister and wiped away her own tears, and sighed loudly. "I don't know what happened to her, I wasn't here." She replied, meekly. "Maybe this was too much for her, I shouldn't have pushed her into this. She didn't even want this gig, ya know? It was me that wanted it, wanted to make a big name for ourselves. But Emily's been content to keep her head down and live and work quietly."

"This wasn't your fault, Katie." Naomi said simply, shaking her head at her own insensitivity. "Look, something happened, we were doing the interviews with the family and…I don't know, she just started…she didn't look right, yeah?" Naomi was frustrated because she was scared, and being scared for someone else was a relatively new concept that Emily had released in her. "She stormed off in the middle of it and then had a go at me for calling her out on it…then I don't know…she just…," Naomi stood up to pace as she ranted, running her hands through her hair, until she heard Emily whimpering so she stopped and sat down next to the sisters, whilst Katie soothed Emily again, "what's wrong with her, Katie? Is she alright?" Her voice broke then, after running out of steam, she finally allowed her emotions to rise up and get the best of her and fuck if she wasn't on the verge of tears.

Katie felt like the world was on her shoulders and she felt tired. "I just need to get her home, yeah?"

Naomi shook her head, "Don't you do that to me." She whispered harshly, aware of the still shaking Emily. "I'm not some random on the street, Kay…we work together, okay? This is not something we can bury underneath a smile!"

"Look, there is no point in talking at this moment," Katie snapped back at her, just as quietly, "I realise this needs to be discussed but I'm not saying a fucking thing without talking it over with Emily, because believe it or not, it's not my fucking story to tell you! So, if you would be so kind and go get Cook."

Naomi reeled back as the waves of anger and despair rolled off of Katie and she sighed deeply, knowing she was being dismissed. There was nothing she could do except as she was asked, so she stood up slowly, not wanting to spook Emily any more than she already had, and left the trailer.

* * *

She didn't have to search for Cook because he was rushing toward the trailer as she came out, a look on his face that she had never seen before, and she felt chills.

"Wot the fuck _'appened_?" He asked her when he saw her.

Naomi shook her head. "I don't know, we were arguing an-,"

Cook's eyes widened and his nostrils flared. "You did this?" He roared, taking a step closer to her, and Naomi could say that she was honestly scared.

"Whoa! Hold on, Cook." Freddie grabbed Cook before he could actually lunge at her. "It's probably not wise to kill the boss, yeah?" He said, trying to make light of the moment to ease the tension.

"I didn't…know, okay? I didn't know!" Naomi exclaimed as she took a step back, holding her hands up and out to protect herself if need be. "Katie needs you." She told him and made her way over to her mum and Effy.

Almost everyone else had cleared the work site, leaving Effy, Naomi, and Gina, along with Freddie, JJ, Thomas, and Cook. Naomi stood off to the side and kept playing the whole thing back in her mind, wondering if there was something she could've done differently. She didn't hear JJ until he spoke.

"It's called a panic attack, Naomi." JJ clarified quietly. "From the sounds of it, that is. I didn't witness it, so I can't say for sure."

Naomi stared at him as if he had grown another head. "What?"

JJ noticed the confusion on Naomi's face and felt bad. "I'm sorry…it's just, I heard you talking with Cook. Emily suffers from anxiety." He explained softly.

Naomi staggered back as if JJ had just punched her in the gut. "She does?" There was still so much about Emily that she didn't know, Naomi knew that, but this actually blew her mind. "How can that be? She's so…so…," she trailed off, unable to find words. "How come you know this and I don't?" Jealousy ripped through Naomi as she glared at JJ.

JJ merely smiled a sad smile. "She didn't tell me, Nai," he assured her, as they heard the trailer door open, "I just recognise the signs. I suffered from panic attacks when I was younger."

They watched as Cook carried Emily out of the trailer, as if she weighed nothing, and headed toward the Fitch company truck. Katie followed behind them and looked tired. JJ went to gather his equipment, leaving Naomi alone to watch as Effy spoke quietly with Katie. The older twin nodded and accepted a hug from Effy, followed by one from Gina. Naomi smiled at that because leave it to Gina to be a comforter. She was a natural born nurturer, Gina was, and Naomi was suddenly grateful that she was here.

"There's a meeting in two hours at Katie's and Emily's flat." Effy informed her as she made her way over. "Cook is taking them home, and I told Katie that we'd give them a bit of time, but this has to be dealt with tonight, Nai. I would say it's only for the show, but we both know I'd be lying."

Naomi nodded, silently. She didn't have words to say. Until she knew exactly what was going on, she had no plan of attack. And Naomi hated that. She sighed deeply and followed Effy and sat quietly in the car, whilst her mum and Effy discussed the meeting.

' _If Emily had a panic attack, what was said that caused her to freak in the first place?'_ Naomi asked herself, as she went over and over the interview in her head until she remembered what Julia had told them.

"You alright, love?" Gina asked, from her spot in the front, when she heard the distressed gasp from the blonde.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" Gina asked again, concern crossing her face.

Naomi, shook her head to clear the thoughts in her head. "No…yeah, I'm fine." She contradicted herself and blushed, feeling like she was nine years old and getting caught in the biscuit tin. "It's nothing, Mum."

Gina raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Are you sure, because you're crying, dear."

Naomi brushed a hand across her face and felt the evidence as her mum turned back around. But she didn't reply, content to stare out the window and pass the time until the meeting.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Chapter 9 should be up soon...ish. I actually had to split chapter 8 in half.**

 **Poor Emily. Now lets see if Naomi will step up and show Emily what true love means...**

 **Thank you to everyone who reads/reviews, it does boost the ego.**

 **Marci**


	9. The Lifeline

**A/N: hello my people! i hope everyone is well :) I know I am;) **

**So, I've got this here chapter for you all, and I'm posting as way to say thank you! Thank you for reading and thank for reviewing and thank you for following and favoriting! Just a massive clusterfuck of THANK YOU!**

 **Super loud shout out to my bff writing partner in crime, MsWitsEnd!l, who updated earlier today! Seriously, if you're _not_ reading Walls right now, shame on you! It's a (currently)dark, tense, nail-biting and adrenaline filled piece of writing...one that's thought provoking and detailed enough to make you feel as if you're in the story! And hopefully the light is just around the corner, so get over there and read it and give her some love if you wish.**

 **also, I've started a forum we're we can kick around, discussing stories and ideas and what not, if you're so inclined, stop by and say hi;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Lifeline**

Emily laid in bed, under the covers and wanted to die. She could hear Katie, Cook, and Freddie talking, about her no doubt, and she wanted to scream. She wiped away a tear that slipped out as she thought about what happened. It's not that she had the attack, oddly enough that wasn't the worst thing, it was that it happened in front of Naomi, of all people.

Naomi, who looked at her like she was a freak.

When all she ever wanted was for Naomi to see her as normal like she used to be in college before her life became a joke. The confident, strong Emily! That's who she wanted Naomi to know, not the Emily she had been turned into by a budding sociopath.

Emily stayed silent and still, listening to her sister and her best mates argue for another couple of minutes before she decided that she needed to face the music. Katie probably already called their dad, who was possibly on his way and Emily groaned loudly at that thought.

Throwing back the covers, she slowly got out of bed, feeling her body ache from being tensed up for so long earlier. She walked quietly to the door and gently eased it open, not wanting to give away the fact that she was up just yet. Emily listened to Cook and Katie.

"I just think we need to give her some space, yeah?" Cook stated in his gruff manner.

"That's the last thing she needs, Cook and you know it." Katie spoke up, just as heatedly as Cook.

"I think it's well past time." Freddie said quietly, as always, trying to be the voice of reason. "It's been long enough, Cook."

Emily closed her eyes and sighed, knowing that they were still talking about her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door all the way and stepped out into the hall, making her way to the lounge.

"Hey, Emsy." Katie said with a forced cheerfulness, as she saw Emily enter the room. "How ya feeling?"

Emily sat down on the sofa, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them in her classic protection mode. "A bit sore and tired." She replied to Katie's question. "Listen, I know you're all wor-,"

Katie cut her apology off. "Save it for now, Emsy. We've got about ten minutes before everyone is here, so I thought we'd set the table? I know you're hungry."

Emily didn't say anything, as confusion spun through her mind. Set the table? Why would they set the table? Katie's demeanour was throwing her off balance, which had been shaky even after the nap, and she watched as her friends stood up with Katie and they made their way into the kitchen.

She sighed, resigned to the weirdness, and stood up, intent on following them, when the buzzer sounded on the intercom. "Fucking great." Emily muttered to herself as she went over and pushed the button that allowed her to talk. "Hi, Dad. Come on up." She said automatically.

She didn't wait for a reply, merely hitting the button that would open the lobby door and stepped into the bathroom to splash cold water on her face to wake herself more than she already was. Emily knew her dad was going to be searching for any sign of distress and she didn't want him to worry anymore than he already was.

Emily let the water run before cupping her hands under the faucet, then brought them up, feeling the iciness of it, as it covered her face. She grabbed the hand towel and dried her face and hands, then stared at herself in the mirror and wondered when she would get her shit together.

She looked haggard, she realised, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and the way her hair looked as if she had spent a week sleeping. 'Ugh!' She thought in disgust, running her hands through her red locks, trying her best to tame the bed hair, with no luck before she gave up. "Fuck it." She walked out muttering.

"How are you feeling?"

Emily yelped in surprise as she ran into Naomi, who was waiting in the hallway for the bathroom. She had to cover her mouth to muffle the sound and her other hand flew up to pat her chest, feeling her heart racing. "Fucking hell, announce yourself!" She spat out quietly, but with enough venom for Naomi to realise how angry she was.

"I'm sorry." The blonde whispered as she eyed up Emily wearily, stepping closer to her.

Emily tense up again. "Naomi, I need you to back up, please."

There it was again, the slight vibration in that husky voice. Naomi had heard it earlier but didn't know what it was, but she had a clue now.

Emily was afraid of her, bone deep, she was scared to death of Naomi and she felt like crying.

"Please don't be scared." Naomi found herself begging, wanting to be the one Emily came to when she was troubled, not the one she runs from. "I would never, _ever_ , do anything to hurt you. Don't you know that?"

Naomi stepped back and away from Emily, giving her room to breath, and went into the loo and shut the door, leaving the redhead in the empty hallway. It took a few minutes until the noise from the kitchen filtered to her brain.

Emily heard Effy and Gina laughing at something, along with Katie and Freddie. She wanted to go back to bed because she remembered that Katie had mentioned something about a meeting on the ride home, but she didn't pay it any mind as she was still stuck in the haze of the attack she'd had. With a deep sigh, she made her way into the kitchen to face everyone.

"Hello, love." Gina smiled as she caught the tiny twin trying to sneak into the room. "Is it okay to touch you?" She asked and waited, to her everlasting credit, for a nod from Emily.

She had never felt anything like it in her life when Gina put her arms around her and squeezed gently. This was a mother's hug. This was the hug of a woman who cared about your well being. This was a hug that said, _I know you're hurting so what can I do to help?_ It was a hug that enveloped you in a fluffy bubble and promised to never let anything hurt you.

It was everything that Emily really didn't know she needed, and she cried as she wrapped her arms around the older woman and clung to her.

This is what Naomi found when she stepped into the kitchen behind Emily and smiled as she walked around to start passing out food. Naomi had suggested takeaway, so they stopped and grabbed almost every thing on the menu at the Chinese place up the street, knowing that Emily could put away just as much as Freddie and Cook combined when hunger hit her, so they came loaded with bags of food.

She heard her mum whisper something to Emily as she pulled away from her and watched as Emily smiled shyly, blushing and even though it was totally inappropriate, given the situation, Naomi's stomach fluttered. She brushed the reaction aside because she needed to focus on Emily, so she placed cartons of food on the table and felt good when they all sat around and started to eat.

"So, who's thirsty?" Freddie asked as he stepped back into the room, having been sent to the off-licence whilst Emily was in the bathroom. "I've got Pinot Grigio or…Cider oblivion?"

It didn't take long for everyone to tuck into the food and drink, although they didn't drink too much, knowing the subject that needed to be broached. And to any outsider looking in, it would seem like any normal night, where a bunch of mates gathered for a good, relaxing time. But this wasn't any normal night, and even though everyone joked and laughed, even Emily, there was tension hanging in the air.

A tension that was addressed as soon as Freddie and Cook started cleaning the table and tossing trash when Effy cleared her throat to get everyone's attention.

"We need to talk about what happened today, Emily."

Emily swallowed thickly, feeling every eye on her. "It was nothing, I-,"

"Bullshit." Naomi said quietly, cutting off the younger twin's excuse and earning a glare from her, but she was determined to say her piece. "Something set you off, and we need to deal with it. I-I…I think I know what, but I need you to explain."

Emily waited as her heart beat frantically in her chest. She didn't know how to respond, didn't know what to say, because how do you explain that for a long time you allowed someone, someone who claimed to love you, to mentally and physically abuse you? It's not like you could slip it into casual conversation over coffee! It's something you keep hidden so people don't look at you like a freak.

"Emily," Effy spoke softly, placing a hand over Emily's, "this is as important to the show as it is for you."

Emily glanced up at Effy, then looked at Naomi, taking in the concerned looks, and then over at Katie, who looked sad. "What did you tell them?" She asked Katie, too tired to be angry. Usually, this was something that Emily chose to ignore, and never allowed Katie or their dad to bring it up, but the guilty expression Katie was sporting told Emily that she might have told everyone.

Katie was about to say something, but Naomi stopped her with a hand on her arm, and a sad smile. "She didn't say anything," Naomi said then watched as Effy shifted slightly, and knew that her friend knew more about Emily, "at least, not to me. But that's not the point, is it?"

"Look, I know I freaked out today, but it's my problem, yeah?" Emily could feel the irritation coursing through her, as she sat back in her chair and folded her arms in front of her.

Katie scoffed loudly. "Fuck if it's just your problem anymore, Emily. You had a panic attack brought on by clients! And it's not going to get any better, is it?" She was on a roll now, as her conversation with Gina earlier came back to her. "You bury things, Emily and you hide, but when these episodes start showing on the telly, you won't be able to do that. Let that sink in for a minute."

The older twin was out of breath as she finished her mini rant. Naomi and Effy looked at each other, wondering what brought that on, but knew that Katie was right. And Emily's eyes widened as her sister's words made an impact on her brain, setting off alarms. She could feel the pressure on her chest, it felt like a steel band had been wrapped around her and it was tightening as she sat there. Emily stood up quickly, taking deep breaths, trying to prevent another attack.

Cook couldn't take it, that look of fear in her eyes. "Stop it!" He growled out. "Scaring her into telling you people anything is bullying!"

"Fuck you, Cook! She needs to know that she's not the only one effected by her actions now." Katie said, trying not to shout.

Emily stepped away from the table, retreating. "I need a few minutes…t-to…to think." She started walking out of the room, then called over her shoulder. "Just give me a few…I'll be right, um…I'll be back."

The rest of them sat at the table and listened as Emily walked down the hallway and shut her bedroom door. It took about three seconds before Cook and Katie blew up at each other and Naomi rolled her eyes at them.

"You do realise she can probably hear you, right?" Naomi shook her head in disgust and pushed away from the table. "I'm going to the loo, I'll be right back."

* * *

She could hear them still, even though they did lower their voices, as she shut the bathroom door and did what she had to do. When she finished up, she washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror, much the same way Emily had earlier and wondered if it was worth it pursuing Emily. Naomi gave it some thought as she kept staring into her own eyes, until her blue ones were replaced with warm, smiling brown ones and she knew that, yes, Emily was worth it.

Naomi left the bathroom, stood listening to the noise coming from the kitchen and felt sure that Emily was still in her room. She looked around, noticing the closed door to her left, hoping that the redhead was in there so, she knocked gently.

"Emily? It's Naomi," she said, realising how similar to this afternoon it was, and almost chuckled until she remembered what happened then, so she cracked the door open and looked around the dimly lit room.

She took in the spartan look and felt sadness wash over her. Emily didn't have any tokens or pictures, nothing that made the room her own, but Naomi had to remind herself that she was only here for a short time whilst filming. Her eyes flicked to the bed, hoping to find Emily but she found it empty.

Naomi stepped further into the room and closed the door behind her. "Emily?" She called out again, panicking slightly.

"I'm right here." It was shaky, but not tearful, Naomi noticed as she whipped around to find the source of the voice and she saw Emily huddled in the corner of the room, wedged between the wall and the bed. "I'm not freaking out again, I just…needed a minute to gather my thoughts. It's a lot to ask of me, ya know. But I understand that the show is what's important-,"

"Fuck the show, Ems." Naomi cut her off, feeling this huge need to prove Emily that _she_ was the important thing here. "I could give two shits about the show right at the moment, it's _you_ I'm worried about, yeah?"

Emily was shocked at Naomi's words. This was the first time someone, outside of her family and her two friends, seemed to want to put her first and even though she felt a fluttering of happiness about that, it was immediately eclipsed by fear. Felicity had put her first once upon a time and look how that turned out.

"May I?" Naomi gestured to the bed and waited for an answer.

Emily nodded. "Sure."

Naomi sat down and got comfortable before turning back to the redhead. "Emily, what happened today is not right and I'm sorry, so sorry, that I had a part in pushing you that far-,"

Emily shook her head. "You didn't do anything, it was me…," she trailed off as Naomi glared at her.

"Don't you dare do that, Emily. Don't you dare take the blame for what I did, even if I didn't know what I was doing!" Naomi admonished emphatically. "I shouldn't have yelled, I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know exactly _what_ was wrong…and I know it's been stressful, you know, doing what we've been doing whilst your _girlfriend_ ," Naomi spat out the word and rolled her eyes, but kept on talking, "was here, so I'm sorry for putting that kind of pressure on you."

Emily didn't say anything, couldn't say anything because it was a foreign concept to her. Having someone she liked, more than liked actually, apologise to her. Someone had treated her badly, yet felt guilty enough to feel remorse about it and that made Emily's heart flutter.

"There's a reason for what happened today, Naomi and it wasn't you, I promise." Emily replied quietly, feeling the need to finally tell someone.

Naomi gazed at the redhead, cocking her head to the side, watching the way her eyes looked in the dim lamplight. "Tell me. Does it have anything to do with…Felicity?"

"How do you know that name?" Emily asked, her voice shaking and she shrunk in on herself as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible.

Naomi noticed it all, realising that she had done that earlier, and sighed. "You kept muttering it this afternoon, ya know, during…but tell me the reason."

Emily shook her head sadly. "I can't, Naoms. I want to. I really do, which is strange if I'm being honest and that thought scares the shit out of me, but also if I don't tell Katie first…," her eyes locked onto Naomi's and held her gaze, "she doesn't even know this."

Naomi could've cried right then, but she controlled that feeling and concentrated on that fact that Emily _wanted_ to share something with her even if she _couldn't_ at the moment. It made her feel happy. Happier than she had felt in a really long time and Naomi could barely stop herself from doing a little dance in her spot on the bed.

' _Fucks sake, Campbell! Can you stay focused, please?_ ' Naomi admonished herself silently when another thought popped into her head. "Do you really want Katie to know?" Naomi asked.

"Yes and no?" Emily replied, looking up at Naomi from her place on the floor. "No, because I really don't want anyone to know, but yes, because it's become an issue now. And if she doesn't hear it first, from me, she'll go ballistic."

Naomi nodded along with the explanation, then slid off the bed and made her way over to Emily on her knees. She gently peeled Emily's hands from around her knees and laced their fingers together, before leaning in to kiss her on the forehead. "I'm going to keep saying this until you truly believe me," Naomi said softly and waited until Emily looked her in the eyes again, "I meant what I said, yeah? I want you and I want to get to know you. Everything about you, okay? I'll go get Katie for you." She kissed Emily's forehead again and stood up, making her way quickly to the door.

"You'll come back too?" Emily asked shyly, feeling pathetic again.

Naomi smiled to herself before turning back to the redhead. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Katie waited nervously and kept watching for the return of Emily. She was afraid that Emily was slipping backwards and that scared her.

"I think it's time to call my dad," she told the room, knowing it was the right thing to do didn't make it feel any less wrong, "she's been doing better, Emily has been...it's been years since she's had attack this bad, but...Dad deserves to know."

Freddie and Cook started in on why that was a bad idea, while Effy and Gina stayed quiet.

"C'mon, Kay!" Freddie shook his head sadly, knowing how his friend will respond. "You know that Emily hates your dad worrying, also she feels like he's watching her, waiting for the minute she breaks again!"

"Yeah, he's right." Cook agreed, nodding along.

Katie was about to kick off again, but Gina placed a comforting hand on hers and spoke up for the first time since they had started the conversation.

"If I could say something here, as a parent," Gina looked around the table, her gaze coming to rest on the boys, "I understand the need to know what's going on with my child. It's not because I'm being nosy, it's because that child is a part of me and no matter if they're five, twenty or forty, a parent is always going to try and make things better,"

Cook sat up and gestured wildly in the air, cutting Gina off. "That's just the thing! There's nothing to fix, she just needs time to sort things out!"

Gina looked at the young man, raising a delicate eyebrow and gave him the Campbell glare, and chuckled to herself when she watched him shrink. "James, you know, deep down you know that's not true. If that was the case, you wouldn't be so protective of her, and don't think I haven't noticed." Cook squirmed in his seat, as Gina made her point. "Katie, love, why don't we wait until we talk to Emily, get the full picture of what's going on before we make any rash decisions, yes? It really could've just been Naomi that set her off, so we'll find out and adjust accordingly, and then we call your father."

"Okay, no sense worrying him tonight, right?" Katie agreed, then glanced at the door way looking for Emily, while the rest of them talked. She was surprised to find Naomi standing there, just out of sight of everyone else, beckoning her over. "Excuse me for a moment."

Katie left the table and went into the hallway, worry for Emily etched on her face.

"Don't freak out, Katie." Naomi said quietly, when she saw her face, knowing automatically what the older twin was thinking. "She wants to talk to you before coming back out."

Katie nodded and went to Emily's room, surprised when she found Naomi on her heels but didn't say anything as she opened the door. "Emsy?"

Emily looked up, smiled a sad smile at her sister and then looked quickly at Naomi, making sure she was still there. "Hey, Katie. Come have a seat." She patted next to her.

She had made it off the floor and onto the bed, and when Katie climbed on and Naomi took a spot at the foot, it made her remember sleepovers they would have with their cousins when they were younger.

"What's going on, Emily? I'm really worried." Katie asked, unsure of whether to keep pushing her or not.

"This isn't going to be easy for me to say, Katie, but today has made me realise that I can't hide this anymore." Emily said with tears in her eyes.

Katie wrapped an arm around her and kiss her on top of her head. "Whatever it is, Emily, we'll get through it together, yeah?"

Naomi watched the sisters, suddenly missing that sibling connection that she had never had before but had secretly always wanted. She had hoped for a long time that her mum and dad would give her a brother or sister, but they had found out that Kieran wasn't able to, so he focused all his love and attention on Gina and Naomi. She stayed quiet as Emily and Katie said something in what sounded like gibberish.

"Alright, enough with the twin speak, Emsy." Katie pulled away with a chuckle, taking Emily's face in her hands, making sure she could see into her eyes. "What do you wanna tell me?" She asked wiping away the tears that were falling silently from Emily.

"You were right, what you said earlier, about the clients...," Emily started, looking at Naomi before turning back to Katie, "the wife, Julia? She...her first husband...was abusive."

"Oh." Katie said when it hit fully, knowing now the reason for Emily's panic attack. "I see...,"

"It was more than that, Ems." Naomi stated plainly, drawing attention to herself. "Yeah, I mean...I could see that you were uncomfortable whilst Julia was talking about her first husband but...something else really set you off, didn't it?"

To say Emily was shocked by Naomi's observation would be an understatement and she shifted nervously. Katie looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Was there something else, Ems?" Katie asked, curious about what had been said.

Emily frowned and nodded. "Yes. Julia talked about not being...able to have children."

Katie and Naomi both looked at each other, confused about why that would matter before Emily kept talking.

"I can't...she...Felicity, she...," Emily felt sick, actually sick to her stomach the way she always did whenever she talked about Felicity. It was one of the main reasons why she didn't like anyone talking about her, the shame and the pain of having to think about things that were in the past was too hard. But she knew that now she had started, she needed to finish. "She, um...,"

"Take your time, Ems." Katie told her, rubbing Emily's shoulders as they tensed up. "There's no rush at all, yeah?"

Naomi watched as Emily took a few deep breaths and released them slowly. She was dying to find out who Felicity was and what she did to Emily, but she wasn't about to push for answers. Even without knowing exactly what had happened in the past, Naomi felt a sense of sadness and anger.

"Felicity...she, well...," another pause as Emily focused and cast a quick glance at Naomi, " _fuck_...this is hard! She didn't like to...never wanted evidence to be seen, after you started questioning the bruising on nights out...so the stomach, she made sure to hit there," Emily watched as Naomi winced wen the words came out of her mouth and the blonde's face hardened, "there were multiple traumas that went unnoticed."

Katie bristled with fury as the implications of what Emily was saying set in. "When? And how the fuck did I _not_ know this, Emily? That's not something you can hide, is it? Because towards the end of the relationship, it's not like you spent a lot of time alone, so isn't that something I would've noticed?" Her tone was almost accusatory, forgetting for the tiniest moment that she wasn't supposed to cause anymore stress for Emily. "Why the _fuck_ didn't you tell me?"

Emily cringed as "Bitchy Katie" made an appearance. "Don't do that, Kay." She muttered, catching her sister's eyes, using all her strength to hold the look. "Don't blame me for her, not now. Not when I need you the most."

"Jesus _fuck_ , Emily!" Katie huffed out, feeling hurt and disappointment. "I guess I'm just...you could've told me, you cow."

"I know, but it was, _still is_ hard to do." Emily rxplained meekly. "I'm sorry, Katie."

Naomi watched as Katie sniffed away a few tears, then it looked as if she readying herself to have a go at Emily. But she shook her head as if trying to get rid of her negative thoughts. "When? When did this happen?" Katie asked, her voice clipped and curt. "When did you find out?"

"Remember that weekend you went home for Aunt Traci's birthday? I didn't go because I thought I was sick with a stomach bug, but it had only gotten worse as the night went on. Felicity came over and could tell it wasn't the flu, so she took me to hospital. The doctor on call referred me to a gynecologistThere were abscesses, a lot of abscesses...pelvic inflammatory disease, the doctor called it, caused by bacteria along with the beatings and too much scar tissue built up...it went on for too long, and it means I can't have children. I can't carry children."

Katie stayed silent long after Emily finished explaining, feeling a deep hurt for her sister, as the full picture of what that bitch had done to her became clearer. Whilst Emily never actually talked about having kids, Katie knew it was something she had wanted. A big family was the one thing both of them had dreamt about when they were younger and that dream had been ripped away from Emily.

"That fucking _cunt_!" Katie finally exploded, causing Emily to jump and scoot away from her. "That _useless_ cunting motherfucking _waste_ of space!" Her lisp was pronounced and Naomi could only stare in shock as the older twin stood up and started pacing.

"Katie."

Back and forth, Emily and Naomi watched her walk, as Katie continued. "Like, abusing you wasn't fucking bad enough? Taking away your youth and innocence wasn't _fucking_ enough?"

"Katie, please stop." Emily's pleas went unnoticed.

"Nooooo...she had to leave you with a constant reminder of her, didn't she? That stupid prick!"

"Katie, _shut up_!" Emily finally yelled, causing the room to go quiet, bringing Katie's pacing to a stop.

Naomi watched as none of them moved. Katie looked embarrassed by her outburst and Emily, well actually Naomi couldn't tell what Emily was feeling.

"Hold up, are saying...are you saying what I think you're saying?" Naomi asked as her head began pounding, along with her heart, as the implications of dating someone with Emily's past started to sink in. She realised that taking on someone who's been completely broken might be too much for her take on.

Emily heard the disbelief and anger in Naomi's voice and hung her head as shame flowed through her again. This is what she didn't want! Naomi disgusted with her.

"I'm sorry...,"

Naomi shook her head and glared at the younger twin. "If you apologise to me one more time...," she left the threat hanging between them, as she processed everything she had heard so far and her own feelings about it. "I just...it's hard for me to picture it...and _you_ , of all people!"

"What is that supposed to mean, _her_ of all people?" Katie's look turned fierce in seconds. "What about _her_ of all people? What, like she has fucking _beat me_ written on her forehead?"

Katie slapped her hand over her mouth and knew she let her anger get the best of her when Emily gasped loudly, looking utterly shattered and Naomi glared at her.

"Katie! I can't believe you just said that!" Naomi was feeling that urge to protect Emily, not wishing to upset her further. "That's not what I meant at all." She clarified somewhat, turning back to Emily. "What I meant was, since I've met you, you've been nothing but lovely. Even when you-know-who popped up in that club back in Bristol and I turned into a total twat, yeah? I guess I'm just having a hard time imagining why anyone would do that to you."

Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes. "If you can figure that out, kindly let me know, would ya? I've spent nine years trying to figure that out."

"Just to be clear, and I don't want to make matters worse," Naomi looked into Emily's eyes and spoke softly, " but this...she...abused you?"

Emily felt her heart lurch a bit at the concern that Naomi displayed, but felt oddly at ease with telling her the truth now that she had spilled her greatest shame, and she nodded and then she and Katie spent the next little bit telling Naomi everything.

When they were done, Naomi processed the information and discovered that Emily made her want to try, she still wanted some type of relationship with her. "Fuck me." Naomi said quietly, not looking at either twin and started to wonder what she could do to help. "We should probably get back out there, yeah? Finish the rest of the meeting?"

The twins agreed and they left the comfort of Emily's room, each one of them lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

It was quiet around the table, now that everyone had calmed down and Emily, Katie, and Naomi came back out.

Emily was surprisingly calm, telling everyone at the table what happened earlier and why. It was hard to watch Cook's and Freddie's faces so, Emily kept her eyes bouncing around the table. She knew that they would blame themselves for what had happened to her, but she knew deep down that the only true person to blame was Felicity.

Gina and Effy had both teared up a little but brushed them away and when Emily was done, Effy sat up straighter in her seat.

"Thank you for telling us, Emily. I know it can't have been easy for you." Effy said, making sure she kept eye contact. "First thing to do is find out everything we can about this Felicity-'"

Emily's eyes widened and she felt her chest tighten up. "W-why do we need to do that?" she asked nervously, casting quick glances at everyone.

Naomi placed a comforting hand on Emily's arm, rubbing it up and down, doing her best to sooth her. "Ems, we need to know where she is and what she's doing, we don't mean for you to be in the same room as her-,"

"As if I'd let that happen!" Katie spat out, followed by sounds of agreement from a Cook and Freddie.

"It's a way to protect the show _and_ Emily," Effy informed the room, "if we have eyes on her, once this all goes public, then we can get a better idea of what she may or may not do. In the mean time, Emily...I've arranged for you to see someone-,"

Again the room started talking at once, all except Emily, who remained quiet.

"Shut up!" Effy yelled, which sounded weird because Effy wasn't a yelling kinda girl. Once the room was silent again, she turned back to Emily. "Emily, you know this is the right thing to do, yeah?"

"I know. I'm sorry-,"

Naomi scoffed. "Stop apologising. This isn't a punishment, Ems," she stated gently, turning to look at the redhead next to her, "it's a chance to get help for a situation you had almost no control over and didn't deal with properly, okay?"

"Emily, there are more families that we'll be working with. There's no garuantee that we won't encounter more backgrounds like Julia's, but Ems," Effy spoke softly, trying to get her point across, because she felt the same as Naomi when it came to the show, the only thing that really mattered was Emily, "I know I've not known you very long, or as well as others," she smirked at Emily and Naomi, "but I care about you, yeah? I'd like to think that we're friends, and I'd really love to be able to help you, okay?"

"Alright, Effy. I'll go see someone." Emily agreed quietly, feeling a mixture of defeat and touched all at the same time.

Effy smiles at her. "Good, I've arranged for appointments that fit in with our schedule, alright? And don't worry, you won't be doing this entirely on your own."

Everyone looked at Effy, confusion about her statement clear on the faces around the table.

"What do you mean by that?" Naomi asked, suspicion dripping in her voice.

Effy smirked at her best friend. "That means, Naomi, that you and Emily will also be attending sensitivity training together," Effy held up her hand quickly to cut off Naomi's argument, "I know it wasn't completely your fault, what happened earlier, but you did have an unknowing hand in it so, for the greater good of the show and Emily, you, my friend are going to learn how to handle these types of situations. Both of you have your first joint appointment tomorrow night after we finish work, with Doctor Mary Miles." Effy's words left Naomi and Emily stunned, as the rest of them chuckled just a little bit.

As everyone started getting ready to leave, Emily pulled Naomi off to the side.

"What's up, Ems?" Naomi asked, speaking softly. Emily looked serious, causing her to worry.

"I would like you to stay." Emily replied just as quietly. She sounded pathetic and she hated sounding needy. "Here, with me. I'd like you to stay."

"Babes...," Naomi's heart soared at the request, because it was the first time Emily had asked it of her, but she knew it wasn't the right time, "you know I'd love nothing more, but we both realise that the timing is wrong."

Emily swallowed back the lump in her throat, and her heart lurched at Naomi's words. It wasn't an out right rejection, she told herself. "I know it's not the right time, Naoms...it's just...you make me feel...comfortable in my own skin sometimes."

"Just sometimes?" Naomi asked with an inappropriate smirk and watched as Emily blushed deeply. "Look, let's get through this bloody appointment Effy's arranged for us and then we'll see what happens, okay?"

Emily nodded, reluctantly agreeing. "Yeah...see what happens. Night, Naoms." She stood on her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on Naomi's cheek before backing away.

"Night, Ems." Naomi smiled at her as she made her way out the door to go find her mum, leaving Katie and Emily alone.

That night, both Naomi and Emily tossed and turned, each of them thinking about what had happened, as sleep was slow to hit.

Naomi laid awake as she thought about everything that she had done since she met Emily and she realised that they had learnt to dance around each other for so long now, that the possibility of actually dealing with each other seemed like a good thing suddenly and even though both of them were scared for their own reasons, she decided that this could possibly be the best thing to happen to them.

* * *

 **Alrighty, folks...I'm thinking this will be the last update of the year. With the holidays coming up it's time for me to be a grown up... but keep your eyes peeled for an update after the first of the year.**

 **so from me to all of you, have a safe and happy holidays!**

 **Love to you all,**

 **Marci**


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